Safe in Brother's Wings
by Dr. Kineil D. Wicks
Summary: Tadashi doesn't die in the SFIT fire. However, waking up as he does, he's not sure if this is an improvement—especially being in charge of a bunch of bird-people, including a baker's dozen of kids. But there's a plan: gene-cleansers. All they have to do is navigate back to San Fransokyo, steal some from the people who did this to them, and go back to their lives—easy, right?...
1. The Great Escape

**HOO BOY.**

**So I got hit hard with this story idea last July and here we are, I couldn't stand it anymore, time to share one of my weirder story ideas, I guess—got it from a dream, and I enjoy it at least, so there you go. ^v^**

**So, quick run-through—I wrote about 90% of this WAY before seeing anything of Season Two, so it's not exactly canon-compliant (like Tadashi being alive isn't enough of a tip off ^^; ); most of the references to canon Season Two are postulations, theories, and snippets I got from Tumblr. Got a good 200 consecutive pages and 27 consecutive chapters written up, so we're good for a few months of updates. Updates will be every Tuesday until further notice, and…okay, I own birds so expect a lot of bird-nerding whenever bird-people are involved.**

**Anything else? Yes—OCs abound, we're going cross-country to ****_Homeward Bound_**** music, and it's an accidental ****_Ducktales_**** crossover because Tadashi is horrible at original names. Also, we might have a reference to the _Spectacular Spider-Man_ TV show. Related artwork can be found on DeviantArt, and at this point I'm rambling so…*deep breath* Let's do this.**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

_"Someone has to help."_

_That was the last thing he said to Hiro before running into the burning building, hot air catching his cap and gusting it off his head—forget the cap, he could get a new cap, he couldn't get a new life if he tarried too long._

_"Professor!" he bellowed, scanning the building, maneuvering through the scant clear areas—coughing as smoke started to invade his lungs and the heat stole his air. "Professor Callaghan!"_

_Some other noise, over the roaring of the fire—skittering, sounding like—_

_He turned—_

_Hiro's microbots, surging through the fire, wrapping up around—_

_"Professor Callaghan!?"_

_What was going on—why did his expression look so cold—_

_And then a wave of blackness slammed into him, sending him cracking against a far wall—seize him away, throw him again—_

_As he tumbled through the fire and debris, it occurred to him that his favorite professor was trying to kill him._

_"No," he wheezed, ribs grinding painfully as he tried to stand, to push himself up. "Why—why—"_

_Another hit, sending him landing near a window—the microbots surged over him suddenly, breaking the window, skittering away—_

_And then the world flared in a sear of heat and noise and he was flying again, not of his own volition, landing hard, rolling, coming to a halt…wheezing…couldn't breathe…._

_Vaguely aware of a hospital…vaguely aware of someone saying he was a John Doe…no…no he had a name he had a family—_

_Someone made a tsking noise. "Someone did a number on you, didn't they hon? Don't worry, we'll take care of the poor boy—someone has to help, right?"_

_Someone has to…someone…._

_Darkness._

It was an eternity later when Tadashi realized his senses had returned to him, that the reason everything was still dark was because his eyes were closed—try to stir awake, reach up, rub his face—felt an IV tugging at one arm, felt entirely uncomfortable, lower body buzzing, back aching…what—

It came back to him—the fire. The explosion.

Professor Callaghan.

He sat bolt upright, eyes snapping open—action knocking the IV to the ground, yanking it out of his arm—he screamed, grabbed the blanket, pressed it hard against his arm to stop the bleeding—tried to get out of bed—

Went crashing to the floor.

Okay—okay no, please don't tell him—try to twitch his toes—felt them—but didn't amputees feel phantom limbs? Had to look, had to—

Looking made him wish he hadn't, made him wish he _had_ lost his legs.

Because he did, because _those_ weren't _his_ legs.

Because last he checked, he had been one hundred percent human, and _that_—that wasn't human.

Feathers—thighs, bird thighs, bird legs, bird feet—long tail ending in feathers, looking like a feathery version of Toothless the Dragon's tail—orange and black and yellow feathers, marching up his back—_wings_, huge wings that prickled and burned as blood flow came back to them—

No. No, no, no, this wasn't happening this wasn't happening to him he was dreaming wake up wake up—

Except the pain was real—all the pain was real, and pinching himself didn't change any of that, just added a new thing to be horrified about because his nails weren't proper fingernails anymore they were black and looked like they were halfway between there and claws and there were feathers on his arm and elbow and some on his shoulder from the looks of things—face, feel his face—still normal, but he could feel—feel burn scars, some on his face, more on his neck—look at his shoulders and arms to see the reason the feathers were patchy—burn scars. Chest was bare, the feathers starting up again a little under his ribcage and coming back in full force, hiding everything (fortunately)—grip his head, trying to process everything—hair—feathers—feathers around his ear, poking up—behind his ear, longer ones poking down—

Curl back up on the cool tile, struggling to get the bleeding to stop, trying to process through this nervous breakdown, toes curling as he drew his legs in, legs bending all the wrong ways, tail moving of its own volition—make it stop, make it stop please—

Something was wrong. Something had gone horribly wrong, this couldn't have been from the fire or the explosion he had to get out of here—

The sobs wracking his body slowed, eventually stopped, leaving him gulping for air…he had to get out of here. Whatever had happened, he had to get out of here….

His arm had stopped bleeding.

Struggle upright, trying not to pull the scab, feet not wanting to get traction on the tile, legs not wanting to work at all—grab onto a filing cabinet, pull himself up, work his wobbling way to the door, trying to ignore the tail dragging behind or the wings weighing down his back or the legs that were just wrong, all wrong—manage to get to the door, haul it open—a hall as sterile and bland as the room, metal doors across from an intersecting hall. Both ends had windows, doors peppered the spaces between. Try the next door over—empty, a room just like the one he had just left.

"Hello?" he tried, voice creaky, throat sore. Try to clear it, try again—"Hello?"

There might have been noise coming from that hall that stopped abruptly—slowly work his way over, slipping and tumbling several times—grit his teeth and try again, keep going…finally made it, hugged the wall as he made the turning.

Panels next to glass walls—his mind made the connection, identified them as holding cells…work his way to the nearest one, peer in—

Something huge and feathery slammed against the glass, beak full of razor-sharp teeth flashing as claws scrabbled against the glass—he screamed, fell back—

"Oh don't mind him hon—he's like that with everybody."

_Hon_—not the woman who had said it to him though. Scrabble back a bit further, wait until he was sure the thing couldn't come out, roll to his hands and knees to look.

The first thing he noticed was that this person had the same problem he currently had—feathers everywhere, coating more on her than on him (probably a good thing, he reflected), shades of blue and black, pale blue on her face and chest. Hands had more pronounced talons, and the wing feathers were growing out of her arms instead of out of her back. And she had a beak—an actual beak that replaced her nose and mouth, nostrils flaring where the flesh met the keratin.

The only parts of her that still looked like they originally belonged to her was the dark hair flopping forward and the eyes as sharp as the beak—she looked amused, currently, expression shifting as she took him in. "Are you okay?"

"No," he said, dragging himself closer to her cell, looking back to make sure the…the griffin-thing in the other cell wasn't able to get out—look down the line…he could see more faces peering out of other cells, looking confused—squawking was starting up further down the line—

"OI! SHADDAP!" bird-lady barked. "Now you, on the floor—what, did you wake up early? I'd get used to my feet and run if I were you."

"I don't know," he said, grabbing the control panel and using it to haul himself up—the griffin started barking and squawking.

"_Did I not say shut it? Yeesh,"_ she said, rolling her eyes with such vehemence her whole head rolled. "So who are you?"

"T-Tadashi," he said, watching the griffin pace back and forth—shades of dark gray, red tipping the wing feathers, neck feathers forming a thick ruff, one side of its face splashed with pinkish-purple feathers, eyes like cold ice chips boring into him. "Tadashi Hamada." The griffin started, roared at him. "What's his beef?"

"Haven't the foggiest—he's been like that for as long as I've been here," she said, pacing a little. She seemed sure of her footing—she had been here a while.

"Uh, sorry—who are you?"

"Ah, right—Momakase, although no one's bothered asking me that for a while." She jerked her head at the griffin. "Don't know _his_ name, but he seems convinced I should."

Tadashi considered the griffin for a moment, shaking his free hand as he thought. "Wait, wait, don't tell me—Grumpy, right?"

The griffin snarled at him, snarled at Momakase when she laughed.

"Oh don't give me that look he's right!" she snapped. She considered Tadashi with a more appraising look. "You seem a bit more together than most."

"Don't be fooled—I had my nervous breakdown earlier."

"Fair enough—the only ones who don't seem to have had _that_ so far have been the kids—"

"Kids?"

She shrugged. "There's some kids in here, I don't know the details, I just see them when they put 'em in and take 'em out. _What?"_ she spat, when the griffin started again. "All right, _fine_—he wants you to do something to the control panel—well I _would,_ but you're saying it all at once and it _makes no sense."_

Tadashi looked down at the control panel his hand was on. Didn't seem to need a key card or any sort of biometric—

"I know this," he said. "Wait I know this! I can get you out!"

Momakase immediately plastered herself against the glass. "You're not serious—you can get me out?"

"Yeah, yeah, hold on—maybe you can help me once you're out."

"Pal, you help me out of here and I'll do you anything—cook your meals for the rest of your life, even. Or try to," she added, considering her hands.

"You don't have to do that, and don't worry, we'll fix this—I mean the wings are fine but the legs are murder and I don't even want to _think_ about the tail—"

"Hey, wait," someone in the next cell over said. "What about me?"

"Yeah!" someone else called. "I want out of here too!"

A whole line of cacophony started, only silenced when the griffin roared.

Tadashi's stomach was filled with dread when the roar finally died. "H-how many people are in here?"

"I don't know," Momakase said. "Kind of lost count after the first dozen."

First dozen—dozen _people_, that had been snatched, experimented on—

Tadashi hesitated—

A few quick keystrokes had every door opening.

"Okay! Everybody, _out! Out!"_ he yelled, waving frantically, still having to prop himself up to keep from tumbling over—whoever had done this to him was going to have _words_. Big ones. Because honestly, how was he going to go home like this? The wings he could live with, maybe some of the feathers—not the tail, definitely not the legs—but with genetics the way they were now maybe he could get—he didn't know, a gene-cleanser or something—

The griffin-monster followed Momakase first, others filing behind in a stumbling frenzy when they realized they had a real chance of escape—Tadashi worked the other way, checking the cells, making sure everyone got out—whoever was doing these things, these awful things to people, he wasn't going to leave anyone here if he could—

The last one on the left had one still in, curled up and looking sickly, not having even registered the door being open. Tadashi stumbled in, got down on his hands and knees, gently shook the soft black wing pulled up to cover the face, causing the long curving tail to twitch—

"Come on," he said, glancing at the door. "Come on, we're going, okay? We're leaving."

Twitch…wing pulled down shakily to reveal a thatch of messy black hair combed forward over wide terrified eyes, face too pale to be healthy—something black was plastered against the sides of the head—

His stomach lurched when he realized that whoever it was, they had to be Hiro's age or younger—the idea—the sheer idea that someone could do this to a kid—

"Come on," he said, working his arm under the kid and hauling him up—lighter than he thought he ought to be as they struggled upright, smaller than him by at least a head, hard to tell with the way he was curled up—haul him to the door, still struggling with legs that most certainly weren't his—

"Hey!" he hollered upon seeing everyone milling around just outside. "Come on, let's go!"

"The doors are locked!" someone yelled.

Great—either they were locked for security purposes or someone figured out what was going on. Either way, they still had to get out—try to work his way forward, stomach wanting to crawl out of him when he realized just how many people here were just—_children—_reached the door to see the griffin clawing at it and snarling. Well, snarling at the keypad.

"Not helping, grumpy," he told the griffin, prompting a glare directed at him.

"All right then," Momakase said, ducking into a room, coming back out with a chair and charging the window. "Plan B!"

Slam into the window, chair first, blowing it out—back up, hit it again, making the frame rattle—the griffin shoved her aside, put its weight on the chair—

"Someone's going to hear that," Tadashi said, wincing at the crash several long moments later. "And that sounds too high to jump."

"Not if you have wings," Momakase said, and then launched herself out.

Tadashi had a moment—a horrorstruck moment—when he thought she was casting herself to her death, but then she flapped, keeping herself aloft—quickly check everyone over before they could follow suit—

"If you think you can, grab a kid!" he ordered, adjusting his hold on the little black-feathered one that had thus far refused to let go. "Oh no you don't grumpy, you can take at least one."

The griffin snarled—

People stopped questioning when they heard yelling on the other side of the doors, keypad sparking as it malfunctioned from the deep gouges scratched into it—it was time to get out of here, it was way past time to get out of here, and everyone was suddenly too busy grabbing a kid and jumping out the window to argue, many plummeting several feet before something kicked in and made them spread their wings and flap. Grumpy did end up with three kids clinging to his back, losing almost no altitude from whatever kicking in faster—Tadashi did one last quick run-through, checking all the cells and rooms, fear making him ignore the bird feet—run back to the window, hugging the black-feathered kid tight to his chest—

Guards forced the doors open just as he grabbed down on the window ledge with a foot, launched himself out—

Freefall—terrifying, wind whistling by his ears, stomach roiling—whatever had made the others fly, now would be a good time to kick in—

_Sorry kid,_ he thought, as they went further than ten feet. _Just our luck I missed the flying gene._

Something started to click together in his head, down his spine, stirring feeling in the wings on his back he had been doing his best to ignore—spread out—

Their descent went from plummeting to angular, small twist of the wings sending them arcing back up—power flap got them flying after everyone else, following Momakase the blue-bird-lady (because he realized now there were a _lot_ of bird-ladies) as she zipped away. Risk glancing behind to see the guards pointing guns at them—flap harder, yelling for everyone to look out—

_"Dive!"_ Momakase shrieked, folding her wings and diving. Everyone followed suit, Tadashi's stomach rebelling as he once again went into freefall—

But the bullets flew harmlessly overhead.

Wingbeats grew stronger as people realized they were going to make it, going to get away—

"Aim for those formations!" Tadashi called. _"_We can hide there!"

They did, made it, huddling under the rocky outcroppings, shivering as they realized they had made it, they were free—

And looking over them, Tadashi's stomach—which had not shut up since he woke up—started to fill with lead. Yes, they were free…a bunch of bird-people, in a world where people decidedly _didn't_ have feathers.

They had a problem.


	2. Apple Hacks

**Chapter 2, everybody! ****_Eeeee I'm so excited!_**** :D And thank you to everyone else who's excited about this too! :D And now is when we see the first glimpse of just _why_ this is a _Ducktales_ crossover...**

**Not sure about the feasibility of an apple orchard in California/possibly Nevada near buttes and desert, but we had just visited our local orchard when I wrote this, so I had apples on the brain. On a related note, seconds are apples that have blemishes and therefore aren't fit for the grocery store, but are still good to eat—our local orchard sells seconds in big crates to pick through, but they don't fetch as much as the perfect apples (WHOOM-TAH!).**

**The ****_Maximum Ride_**** novels I had heard about on Tumblr about the same time, which is why they get referenced—I haven't read them yet, but I ****_think_**** I have one I picked up on sale? And the gene cleansers, again, are a reference to ****_Spectacular Spider-Man_****. Really wish that had gotten a third season….**

**Also, tried looking up bird migrations to get an idea of the time it would take for these guys to pull a ****_Homeward Bound_****—yeah, good luck with that, because all the websites I looked at were ****_not_**** helpful. XP And not everybody's trigger-happy in the country, Tadashi….**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! EEEEE, THANK YOU! I'm glad you love it, I wasn't sure how it would be taken, so I'm glad someone else loves it too. :D**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

"For the hundredth time, _don't_ take the good apples, take the seconds! It's bad enough we're stealing as-is, don't impact these people's livelihoods like that!"

Grump glared at him before very pointedly biting another good apple off the tree.

Tadashi groaned, rubbing his face; felt a tugging on his feathers. "What, Nox?"

Thirty-one people, counting himself and Grump the Griffin as he was now called—thirty-one people experimented on and turned into bird-people: ten adults, maybe seven who could be classified as teenagers, and then thirteen children of various ages. With him as the default leader, only because he had been the one to open the cages—not that anyone seemed grateful. He had allowed the raid on the All-Mart warehouse only because they needed clothes and food, and Sue had figured out how to cut and darn and stitch around the new anatomy, but the rest of the time he was concerned with staying ahead of the Sycorax guards and keeping from out-and-out stealing except when absolutely necessary, and it was starting to grate on people's nerves.

And it was a little too much, he decided, to hope that people thrown together by circumstance would immediately band together against adversity, focus on taking care of the kids while he did his best to try to hack into Sycorax's system to at least get some idea of what had happened. The amount of grousing when he had taken the laptop had not quite abated when he pointed out that he needed it to help them.

Now the ball cap he was adjusting wasn't strictly necessary, to be fair, but his head had felt bare without it, and it was calming, at least.

Still tugging—he finally relented and looked down at the skinny little bird-boy—fortunately none of them were Hiro, but this one that he had named Nox felt too similar to how Hiro had been as a little kid for him to be comfortable. Nox, the skinny black-feathered kid he had had to pull bodily out of that prison, who had now apparently decided that Tadashi was the big brother and he was going to glue himself to Tadashi's side no matter what.

Tadashi didn't complain—he could do big-brother, and it was nice to have at least _one_ person who listened to him (Momakase—or 'Kase, as everyone was referring to her—did, but it seemed to be mostly when it suited her).

"Yes, that's a nice rock," he said, looking at the item Nox was holding up for his inspection. "Very—_no don't put it in your mouth!"_

Which led into the next problem that was occurring with the kids—none of them seemed to be much mentally advanced past toddler or young child in their mentality, despite most of them being physically big enough to pass as school age up to preteen. None of them seemed to talk in anything resembling human language either, despite parroting a word back if you said it to them often enough, and some of them thought screaming was a great way to vocalize.

Nox, meanwhile, seemed to think that most anything should go in his mouth, including things that really shouldn't. It wasn't the first time Tadashi had had to fish something out.

Of course, considering the sallow face and the rest of his rawboned self, Tadashi could guess that part of that habit came from him just plain being hungry.

"Here," he said, putting the rock in his hoodie pocket and scooping Nox up (way too light to be healthy, please be hollow bones or something), wincing a little as his feet grabbed on, claws digging in as he snuggled up against Tadashi's side. "Come on, we'll go get something you _can_ put in your mouth, okay?"

He did a quick head count as he maneuvered over to a full fruiting tree—maybe twenty left of the original thirty-one, and from some of the mutinous looks, that number would be decreasing again soon. Half of the adults gone and three of the teens, splintering off from disagreements with Tadashi's attempts to keep them alive without breaking the law _too_ badly—he didn't like to think about what might have happened to them once they left.

Sue and Beth he could count on to stay, though, and be helpful besides—they both had said they had children of their own (Beth had grandchildren, she had declared proudly, before lamenting the fact that the pictures were probably still in their old prison), were helpful with the thirteen kids. 'Kase was sticking around, as was Grump, surprisingly—Tadashi had honestly been expecting the griffin to be the first to leave. A handful of the teens he could trust too—maybe half of a handful. The rest were…honestly just big question marks.

He shook those dour thoughts from his head, pulled down an apple that looked like it could qualify as a second and handed it to Nox. "Here, see? You can eat this."

Nox took it, turned it over—glanced at Tadashi's face before tucking it in a fold of his oversized sweater.

"No, no—you're allowed to eat this—watch," Tadashi said, taking another apple and showing him before taking a bite, putting a bit more emotion into the _please give me strength_ part of the moment of silence.

Nox considered, finally pulled the apple back out and put it in his mouth, gnawing a little before his teeth broke the skin and sent some of the juice squirting out. Tadashi coughed on a laugh that bubbled out at his expression.

"Hey don't eat _too_ fast," Tadashi told him, putting his apple in his mouth before grabbing another one and moving on. Spot Brittany, one of the fairly decent teens, ease down to the ground next to her.

"So how are we doing?" he asked, once half of the apple was away.

"D'you remember—I don't know if you read these—do you remember the Maximum Ride novels?" she asked, wiping her mouth—valley girl accent twinged a little through her words, she had been wanting to go to SFU before this had happened—"It was one of those series you kept reading and hoping they got better."

"Vaguely."

"Well I want to put out right now that if that's what this is I want off this ride right now."

"Hey, I do too," Tadashi assured her, taking the core away from Nox before handing him the other apple. "Yes you can eat that—I'm hoping that tower over there can give enough of a signal to try again."

Brittany nodded, in a better position to understand what he was wanting to try than most of the others. "You'd better get it this time—I already missed this semester, I don't want to go _too_ long between high school and freshman year."

"I'll do my best."

* * *

They had retreated to the nearby canyons and buttes, Tadashi sitting on top of a rock and facing the tower glowing a pale bone in the moonlight, in the hopes of getting a better signal. He had been able to snatch moments where he could charge the device, but the laptop had a finite battery life—he had to work quickly.

Which meant that the kids playing around on happily full stomachs and trying to get him in on it weren't exactly welcome.

"Should have waited until later," he muttered to himself, ignoring the kid pulling on his wing—but later would be morning, and he didn't want to risk someone spotting him up here; the light from the laptop screen was bad enough. And besides, trying to use a laptop screen in broad daylight was…frustrating, to say the least.

"Five minutes, okay guys?" Tadashi asked, looking at the kids tugging on his feathers—the kids, at least, never looked at him with anything other than positivity, sometimes disappointment when he had to reinforce a ruling or told them he couldn't play like right now—now if only they consistently _listened_…but they were kids, little kids at that, it was too much to expect them to keep more than one thought in their heads at any given time.

Still a tug on one feather—look to see Nox. "Go play with the others."

Nox instead settled against his side, playing with the stones nearby—keep an eye on him to make sure he didn't try to eat anything he shouldn't, try his hand at hacking once more.

Of all the things he did when learning coding, hacking was not on the top of the list—it was wrong, it was illegal, the only possible use it would have would be to get into a computer that needed fixing and resisted all other attempts to get in; hacking Sycorax was honestly beyond him.

But he had to try—for everyone here, for Hiro and Aunt Cass back home, he had to try.

And bite back a frustrated groan when he failed once more.

A huff redirected his attention, saw Grump looking over his shoulder; notice him looking, start vocalizing.

"You know I can't understand you, right?" Tadashi asked, prompting a glare. Nox had looked up though, was making grabby hands at the laptop, pulling it off of Tadashi's lap. "No, hey no this isn't a toy—" Look away at the sound of shrieking. "Webby stop chewing on Louie! Okay fine, but don't break it and don't drop it. Guys—"

No one knew any of the kids, none of the kids shared any of their names, so they were kind of stuck with whatever they decided to call them—Tadashi had done most of it, reflected that he probably shouldn't have named them after _Ducktales_ characters, but he was hoping they'd be placeholder names at best until they got everyone fixed up and back home (and more than a few people had found the selection amusing, at least). Huey, Dewey and Louie were three boys who looked nearly identical but for some slightly varied banding on their wings; Webby and Della were the outgoing girls who were at any time most likely to express their emotions (any and all of them) through screaming; Violet and Lena were the quiet ones who behaved themselves. Mostly.

The rest of them, Mei, Trisha, Taylor, Harry, and Drew, were ones Beth and Sue had named, were young enough that they were ninety-percent fluff and couldn't fly on their own. Grump was the one who ended up having to carry them most days, which did nothing for his mood.

By the time he had the two separated, Sue carting them off to separate boulders for time-outs, Nox had the laptop in his lap in imitation of Tadashi, Grump lying next to him and looking over his shoulder—Tadashi sighed, went back over, wondering just how much damage he had done.

He was surprised when he came over to see the screen, recognized it as showing the inner workings of a company—

"How did you—" he started, having to sit down quickly—Nox didn't seem much brighter than any of the other kids, but this was advanced computer work he shouldn't—

Grump _ark_ed something, pointing a claw—Nox held the computer away, hissing and squawking at the griffin—hissing and squawking at Tadashi when he lifted the laptop out of his hands.

"No no it's—I can get it from here I just—how did you get past the firewalls?" Tadashi asked, navigating quickly—feeling sick as he went through several files, realizing that the bird-people were only _one_ horrible set of genetic experiments being run behind a respectable façade—

"How goes _this_ round?" 'Kase said, landing next to them.

"We're in," Tadashi reported. "I don't know how but these two got us in—" lift his arm a bit when Nox tried to take the laptop back—"I'm looking, okay? There's—there's an awful lot that these—these _people_ did…."

'Kase looked excited, ruffling her feathers—this was it, this was what he had been telling people—

Reports of people who had been lifted out of hospitals, picked up off the streets—_clones_—some people had been cloned—

Check that folder—'Kase had mentioned that she had heard of the cloning, how they were trying to get residual memory into the clones so it would be an exact duplicate, how they had never been able to perfect it—the first clone would be closest, with almost all their memories intact, fuzziness eating away at them, and then it went downhill from number two on.

'Kase suspected it with herself, admitted to him in confidence one day that she knew who she was, really, but that those memories were hazy and sometimes vague. Seeing her full name on file, clicking on the first clone to see it was deceased, clicking on the second one to see a picture of her…she was right.

"Well?" 'Kase asked.

"I found the clone file," he said, glancing up at her—it must have been on his face, because she looked away soon after.

"It wasn't like it was a surprise," she muttered a few minutes later.

By then he had checked through some of the other clone files, keeping an eye on the little timer in the corner that said when the minimum time they'd be aware of the intrusion came—there was one file simply named _O_, and Grump was surprisingly very high on the clone list.

Nox was there too, surprisingly.

"So you two are related," he said to Grump and Nox. "You'd think you'd get along better."

Grump huffed and looked away, and Nox tried to take the laptop again.

"What, what—fine, here," Tadashi said, moving the laptop a little with the intent of letting Nox see the screen while he worked—Nox surprised him by taking the laptop and typing quite rapidly for someone who had never handled a computer before—he wondered if that was one of those _residual memory_ things, wondered who _O_ was and how much of that life Nox remembered.

"Look for gene cleansers," Tadashi advised, scratching his neck as he watched Nox work, much faster than Tadashi had been—Nox nodded, quick and curt, new windows opening—

Jabbed a finger at the screen suddenly, dark claw-fingernail scraping the screen a little.

Tadashi took the laptop, scanning the information—gene cleansers, a whole supply, and the warehouse they were stored.

Back in San Fransokyo.

"You went real quiet," 'Kase observed.

"We found it," Tadashi breathed. "The gene cleansers—the way to turn us back to normal—they're in a warehouse in San Fransokyo." Memorize the place, scratch it into the dirt—in, out, and then he'd be back to his old life—

He clenched a handful of his hoodie, thinking of his last clear memory before waking up in that horrible lab—the memory of Professor Callaghan with Hiro's microbots, hitting him hard, sending him cracking against the wall and into blackness—Professor Callaghan, his mentor, snapping and doing something insane for no apparent reason—

He had to get back—Hiro was probably in big trouble—that should have been the first thing he did upon getting out but with everything going on and trying to keep everyone together and alive even with them not wanting to—but soon—soon everything would be right again.

Beth and Sue would go back to their families. Brittany would go to SFU like she wanted. They could find the kids' homes, reunite them with the families missing them terribly.

_But what about the others?_

He wanted to at least make sure 'Kase was off okay—she might not want to stay in San Fransokyo, what with her original living there. Grump would probably be fine—he struck Tadashi as being the sort who was fine by himself, probably sat in his flat drinking tea to classical music and glaring whenever the neighbors made noise. Nox—he couldn't leave Nox on his own, he'd have to come with Tadashi, he was sure Aunt Cass wouldn't mind at all, Hiro might appreciate a younger brother once he got used to the idea—probably be much easier to swallow without the wings and tail and bird feet.

He logged out, shut the computer down, closed the lid and returned the device to his bag—they had figured out where they were about a month ago, and he knew that San Fransokyo was more than a few days' flight north and west. And that was if they dared flying—it was easier, walking was a chore, but there was the risk of being spotted—they'd have to stay far away from the roads, stick to the woods when they reached the forested hills…the big problem would be finding resources along the way, evading people searching for them or trigger-happy people living in the country. And then finding their way into the city and the warehouse and the gene cleansers…maybe just him. Maybe 'Kase too, she said something about being a thief—but this wasn't stealing, this was getting their lives back….

Nox had apparently decided that him putting the laptop away meant playtime was over—he climbed onto Tadashi's lap and curled up tight against him, head snuggled against his shoulder; breathing deeply a few moments later, having dropped off to sleep immediately. Grump had his head rested on his forepaws, glaring out at nothing, ear twitching but otherwise studiously ignoring everyone else. Oh yeah, definitely a loner, probably had his own personal library that no one was allowed to touch without gloves—he coughed out a laugh, thinking of how Fred was with his comics. Honey Lemon, Gogo, Wasabi, everyone…Hiro, Aunt Cass, Baymax….

Soon.

Soon he'd be home.

* * *

Even with announcing that they had a way to get back to normal, the people he thought would leave had left when he woke up late afternoon, stretching in the lee of a rocky outcropping that hid him from the sun and anyone flying overhead. Nox was still curled up against him, but he managed to extricate himself and work his way over to where 'Kase was sitting, Grump curled up around her boulder.

"Tom and the others left," he observed once he was close.

She nodded. "Said they were done with following some kid around."

"I didn't ask for this job."

"No, but I didn't want to be the one in charge," she agreed. "David left too."

That was a blow—David had always been quiet, he hadn't been expecting that. "So that's how many left?"

"Even twenty. Three adults counting me, three teens counting you, the kids, and Mr. Grumpy here."

Grump huffed.

Tadashi sighed, shook his head, picked his way around and up to where she was.

"The gene cleansers are in a warehouse in San Fransokyo," he told her quietly. "We can't take twenty people in there for a quiet extraction—not when over half of them are kids. I was hoping you and me could get in there, get the stuff, and get out."

She laughed. "You and me? Seriously?"

He nodded, indicated her arms—he might have had the wings coming out of his back, but hers were part of her arms. "I know exactly what I'm looking for, but I don't have the first clue how to break into a place—you do. And you need your arms free to fly—I don't. We go in, get out, and twenty-four hours later we're back to our old lives."

There was something brittle in her expression. "No, _you_ get to go back to your old life. _My_ old life is still occupied."

The original that she had been cloned from—he wondered if the original was even aware of what had happened. "So…now's a good time to start over," he suggested, adjusting his position—trying to sit with bird legs and a tail was awkward. "I'm sure Aunt Cass wouldn't mind an extra hand in the café." And he was pretty sure she and her had never met. "Or you could go someplace else—go on that one cooking show and yell at Grammercy."

She snorted—looked at Grump when he rumbled something.

"What?" he asked—the kids and 'Kase seemed to understand whatever it was the griffin was saying, even though he and the others never could make any sense of it.

"He says the gene cleansers wouldn't work on clones," she said, ears pinned back, beak drooping.

"We don't know that," Tadashi insisted. "And even if it doesn't work, we'll think of something—I'm not leaving you like this."

She looked at him critically, like he had just dyed his hair and she was judging him harshly for it. "You have a real need to be the hero, don't you?"

He looked her dead in the eye. "Someone has to help."

Grump snorted, but something shifted subtly in 'Kase's expression.

"All right," she sighed. "But when you get yourself killed, don't come running to me."

"Fair enough."


	3. Into the Woods

**Chapter 3, everybody! And happy St. Patrick's Day! Hope you all are doing fine during quarantine, and hopefully the influx of updates coming will help pass the time. :)**

**Also, hope y'all don't like punctuation or grammar structure, because the kids sure don't.**

**Let's be honest here, the kids' thought processes were kind of based on the dragonish thought processes in le'letha's ****_Nightfall_**** series of _How to Train Your Dragon_ fics—please go check it out, it's awesome. :D**

**To be fair to the kids, some bird species do eat small rocks and sand for grit. And while birds _do_ have bugs and grubs in their diet, cats—the other species adding to bird-people behavior****—get worms from the same thing. And then there's the gross-out factor...**

**And this chapter and the next I had trouble with as far as figuring out where to break it for length—finally came to a decision today, so we have two chapters of relatively equal length that feel like they have good stopping points, hopefully. **

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Yes! One every Tuesday until further notice! :D Oh yeah, Tadashi's big-brother instincts kicked in HARD. I KNOW RIGHT!? Is that not seen coming in a good way? And I shall—hope to continue to please! :D**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

"Okay, say my name—say my name. Is my name _Tadashi_?"

"Dsshiii."

"No, no—_Tadashi._ Say _Tadashi."_

"T'dsshsshi."

"No—_Tadashi. Tah-dah-shi."_

"T'hhh-DAAAH-ssshi!"

"Close enough," Tadashi sighed, rubbing his face—he had been working with all the kids, trying to get them talking instead of the noises they were making, that sounded like parrots scaled up—Beth and Sue and even Brittany and Sashi the other teen were helping, but it was slow going.

Nox, meanwhile, had decided to treat this as a win, clicking and chirping happily as he worked his way under Tadashi's arms to snuggle in close before climbing all over him, repeatedly punctuating the noises with _Dashi-Dashi-Dashi._ Sounded a bit like Hiro when he was first learning to talk, so maybe he was making headway.

"I ever tell you how much you remind me of my little brother Hiro?" he asked the little bird-boy—probably, he told him almost every day, had that confirmed when Nox started adding _hhhrrhh_ to his vocalizations before spotting an interesting rock—and then having to stop him from trying to add that to his diet again.

"No, no, rocks aren't for eating," Tadashi told him, mentally putting _never tell him about rock candy_ on his list of Nox-care. Had to hold it away from Nox, who was still trying to grab for it and adding _No! No!_ to his vocalizations—"Now why do you get _that_ right away? What is this, some universal kid thing, _no_ is the first word?"

"It's the word they hear the most," 'Kase said, dropping in through the foliage. "I think we're on the edge of a national park or something like that—I didn't see any houses or anything, but there's some roads we're going to have to cross."

"Super," Tadashi muttered. At least they could travel during the day now, even if it was by foot and even if everyone _did_ hate it. "Is Sashi back yet?"

"Not yet, but I'll be double-checking his work when he does," 'Kase said, straightening a wing feather—she had been dismissive when Sashi said he could find edible food in the forest, even with him saying how many survival courses he had taken.

"So long as you two play nice." Because the apples had run out long ago and food was scarce enough in the desert that he had okayed a raid on a gas station storehouse to get the edge off of everyone's hunger. There wouldn't be any convenience stores between them and the end of the forest, and even with the subtle pull he felt telling him which way north was, there was a real chance they'd get lost—they needed a food source.

Grump didn't seem to have any problems—Grump would sniff at something, decide yea or nay, and snap it up. Grump would probably have the mother of all stomachaches when he was back to normal.

A month, maybe—a month more of travelling like this, unless they all decided to fly over the trees—something maybe in the early morning or late evenings, he still didn't want to risk being seen—a month, maybe, and they'd be close enough to San Fransokyo that they could leave everyone someplace safe and then he and 'Kase could go in and get the gene cleansers—

If they were still there.

His battery had died, but during the week of travelling north and west out of the desert he had let Nox 'play' with the laptop, getting back into Sycorax's systems and checking to be sure. A month, and then they'd all be back to normal. Even if it didn't work on the clones, he'd be able to get his friends to help, get _someone_ to help, hold Sycorax responsible—

_Get Callaghan_—

Oh please, don't let Hiro know that Callaghan stole his microbots—he'd do something stupid like go after the erstwhile professor, and that wouldn't end well.

Webby had been play-fighting with Violet and Trisha, started making clicks and chirps at 'Kase, pointing at her and bobbing and flapping their wings.

"I don't think so," she told the kids, before looking at Tadashi, indicating the kids again with her eyes.

There had been too many names to go through—he just didn't know, didn't know if all the kids had been grown in test tubes, but it was a preferable thought to children being snatched off the streets.

Not that any of this was okay—and if that was the case, what would happen to them once they were straightened out? Maybe Beth and Sue would adopt a few, but…a baker's dozen was still a lot of kids.

"I don't know," he sighed finally. "But…we'll figure it out when we get there. Let's just focus on getting through these woods first."

One step at a time—that was all they could do.

* * *

Nox was having the time of his life.

This place, this big place called a _forest_ that they were making their way through—it was so colorful and moist and soft and springy and had so many different scents and tastes and textures and it was great it was great he loved it it felt so much better than the _desert_ that was always hot hot hot and then cold cold cold and this color was _green_ and that one was _brown_ and this was _red_ and a mushroom he wasn't supposed to eat according to 'Kase and Sashi but that was fine there were plenty of other things to see and do with the others, chirping and whistling and squawking and chattering in their own language that did so much more than the clunky _words_ that the olders were wanting them to learn.

There were other olders, he remembered, long ago—ages and ages and ages ago, when they were still in the desert, and then ages and ages and ages before that, when they were in that awful place that hurt and was terrible but 'Dashi got them out 'Dashi was good 'Dashi was very good everyone agreed that 'Dashi was good and older-brother and safe and good—

Webby chattered a new idea, bouncing up and running for the nearest tree—he and the others hastened to follow suit, enjoying the feel of _bark_ under his claws as he hauled himself up, taking a few tries before he found a way that suited him—Webby had practically scrambled up the tree, was now hanging by her back talons from a branch and chittering at them about how _she_ was first and pretending like she didn't hear some of the olders underneath panicking at her being so high off the ground and upside down—Lena was next, then Dewey, then Della, then Violet, imitating the upside-down position—Huey and Louie were hesitant, Trisha and Taylor had been caught before they could reach the trees, and the others were too young to be really interested in their games.

He gripped the bark hard, let himself fall back, let go with his front talons, letting them dangle before waving at Webby, chattering excitedly and clicking her beak in approval—Huey finally did it, Louie shortly after, wondering aloud how they were supposed to get down—Webby let go, righting herself before flaring her wings, tail flipping around to help her steer on the way down—Nox was next, twisting his body before flinging his wings out, flapping once to slow himself down before soaring away, squawking about a stream he heard—the others ran after, and he heard 'Dashi saying they might as well start moving again—angle around to cling to a tree, squawking and flailing his wings to get attention.

Webby, who was more interested in learning _words_ than the rest of them, translated for the olders who had no concept of their vocalizations. "Fly! Fly!" she squawked, pointing up.

"Not yet," 'Dashi told her.

_Not yet_—not yet meant _forever,_ it had been _forever_ since they had flown, and flying was the best, flying was good and great and was what they were built for he always felt _great_ when he flew why were they wanting them to stay on the ground why why why—

Dewey had climbed the tree next to him, squawking a new challenge before scurrying up to the next branch, balancing on it before launching himself at the next tree, Della swarming up another tree and bellowing how nothing could stop her—Nox launched himself, catching the branch and scrambling a little to haul himself up, Dewey already several trees ahead and singing his own praises, Webby quickly catching up and singing a challenge of her own, 'Dashi running ahead and squawking in alarm 'Dashi didn't like this new game 'Dashi was worried and Nox ought to be worried too but this was fun and it wasn't _flying_ so it shouldn't be bad but 'Dashi was important maybe he should listen—

Violet warbled a challenge, prompting him to forget his worries and launch himself at the next branch, catching it before launching himself at the next, giving himself just enough time to catch his own balance, Violet doing her best to stay even with him even though she always felt sluggish and tired she'd grit her beak and try her best to keep up with the rest—squawk at him when she noticed him slowing down a bit to let her catch up don't do that she wanted to win on her own—

Grump bellowed, and that was the end of the game 'Dashi might be fine with time-outs that lasted _forever_ and ages and ages but Grump would lay on you and no one wanted that so they flew down and tried for lots of apologetic noises and warbles with Webby and Huey punctuating in _sorry sorry_ in _words_ in the hopes of eking out of any punishments walking was punishment enough walking was _awful_ and _boring_ and even with seeing all these _new new new_ things it wasn't _flying_ and Grump was the only one allowed to go on all fours and that was lousy too at least until Webby hit on a new idea and started hopping, chirping excitedly to let them know _yes yes fun fun this good yes_—hopping was better, it was more interesting and he liked it and the others did too and Webby might have been the one with feet better suited to _walking_ but she knew the others didn't like it so something better something fun and _ooh look at that_ and then they were all over at a tree that had fallen and was covered in soft greenery that Della sniffed at before ripping into it, revealing all sorts of shiny wriggling things—a few of them had managed to get some in their mouths before the olders stopped them but the smell was making them think _food_ and food was good and now they were all punished because that was _not to be put in the mouth_ which was _not fair—_

They stopped on an incline ages later, in a cluster of trees that looked down on their surroundings, the olders wanting them to rest but Nox and the others didn't _want_ rest they wanted to explore the air was changing the sun was going down and now this was interesting they wanted to see what was changing as their eyes adjusted to the lesser light no no no please five more minutes minutes were forever when they had to sit still for time-out so they had to be forever when they didn't—

'Dashi tugged him close, ignoring his wriggling and squawking, waiting patiently with tired eyes—Nox stopped squirming, snuggled in because this was 'Dashi this was older-brother this was _safe_ 'Dashi had gotten him out of that awful awful place and 'Dashi was keeping him safe and even if he was hungry at times he wasn't hurt and afraid and in pain like that awful place ages and ages and ages ago, he was safe and he was here and 'Dashi was good and….

* * *

"Finally," Tadashi sighed, sagging in relief as Nox's breathing became even. "I swear there's something in the air here," he told Grump, who snorted and went back to ignoring everyone. Tadashi shrugged, looked around the dense forest, did a quick head-count, glance at 'Kase questioningly—she gave him a thumbs-up, and he allowed himself to relax a little.

Doing so unfortunately made him aware of just how _tired_ he was—walking was exhausting when you had bird feet instead of proper human legs, and the terrain wasn't easy to begin with. Flying was starting to get _very_ tempting.

And maybe it would be better—the kids had been all over, scampering around on all fours and climbing trees and jumping from branch to branch—maybe flying would wear them out more thoroughly. It would certainly give them less of a chance to try eating _bugs,_ ew.

And as Sashi pointed out, they ran the risk of running into some dangerous things around here—bears and coyotes and snakes, among other things. And honestly, any excuse to get home faster was good enough for him.

_He had to get back home, Hiro and Aunt Cass were in danger Callaghan might decide that getting rid of Hiro next was the better idea—_

He shivered, trying to dispel those dark thoughts, tried very hard to ignore the way his feathers stood on end when he did—the faster they got to those gene cleansers, the sooner he'd be back to normal with no wings or tails or bird feet or feathers—the latter was fine as far as staying warm but the rest could take a flying leap for all he cared.

So that was the plan, he decided, curling up around Nox with the intent of trying to catch a few Z's—tomorrow they'd fly home as fast as their wings could take them, weather permitting.

Now here was hoping.


	4. Della's Big Break

**Chapter 4, everybody! Presenting what ****_used_**** to be the shortest chapter in the story until I stopped dithering on where to split it between 3 and 4.**

**Now let me tell you a story from my first college, because I must tell you this it's related to the story: my first college was a campus college and for some reason favored soccer over football. I didn't care for the sport, spent most evenings in the art rooms which were right across from the field. Don't right recall if someone came into the art rooms and said it or I heard it after I went back to the dorm for the night (although I do remember the source), but I recall hearing from someone who watched the game that night that one of the players had broken his leg and when he did it sounded like a gun going off. Considering those bones support the body's weight, that makes sense.**

**I'm also going to guess that there _is_ a painkiller plant out there in the Californian wilderness, but don't quote me. For the sake of the story, there is one. *shrug***

**Shock is also nothing to mess with, I did some reading on it for this fic and it can be summed up as ****_if a person is going into shock, GET THEM TO THE ER._**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Thanks, you too! :D Oh Tadashi is going to be stress-molting when he finds out even ****_part_**** of what Hiro's been doing since he's been gone. YES—and I know, right? So proud of our resident older brother. ;v;/**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

The weather was overcast the next day, enough that Tadashi was more than willing to risk flying, since no one (hopefully) would be daft enough to be out in this weather. Find a spot clear enough to launch from, make sure everyone was set, that the smallest kids were being carried and ignoring Grump grousing about having kids hanging on his back and trying to keep the rest of the kids together and grounded until they were ready.

Finally, he nodded at 'Kase, who led the way up—the other teens and adults had a harder time launching from a dead start like this, straight up, but the kids and Grump didn't at all—had to rush and catch Violet before she followed the others.

"Oh no you don't, I'm carrying you," he told her—she always seemed more lethargic than the others at any given moment, despite her best efforts, and he didn't want her falling out of the sky and hurting herself. She struggled a bit, protesting, before relenting and curling up against his chest, digging her fingers and toes into his hoodie and hanging on tight. He dug his own toes in, crouching down and lifting his wings as high as he could—leap up, timing it with a downstroke—

He didn't feel bad, not getting it the first try—Sashi had a hard time getting airborne, as did Sue and Beth; Brittany seemed to be able to get airborne through sheer spite most of the time. Try again, ignoring Nox darting around him and making all sorts of squawks and Violet warbling at him and sounding disgusted in a _I can't believe you don't know how to do this_ tone—got it on the third try, flapping hard and kicking with his feet even though that never helped; but it made him feel better about it, so it had to do _something_.

The air here felt different than the desert, colder but thicker, and the first hour or so of flying had him turning that over and wondering about something he'd usually never give a second thought to. Constantly monitoring the rest, 'Kase taking point, Grump in the back, the rest of them in a loose circle around the kids in an attempt to keep them from flying all over in their excitement. Maybe they'd be good and tired tonight, but he doubted it.

Tadashi flew a little ahead and to the left of Grump, keeping an eye on everyone, ready to call it quits if anyone faltered, or if the weather decided to break. But so long as they could keep going, he wanted to—already they were making more time than they had the last five days, if they could keep this up that month would be a week, maybe, and then they'd be home with their families—

_Please, Hiro, please don't have figured out that Callaghan stole your microbots I know you you'd do something stupid and I'm not there to get you out of trouble this time—_

The moisture was starting to get thicker in the air, sticking to his skin and feathers and weighing his wings down—he called for 'Kase to start looking for a good place to touch down and find shelter, listened patiently as Sashi started telling them all how to make a lean-to that would keep the worst of the rain off if they had to, nodding when he mentioned that it was a real pity they didn't have a tarp because that was one of the key survival tools one needed when stuck in the wilderness—

'Kase cut off the rest of his lecture, leading the way down to a clearing with a cabin set against the trees—Tadashi braced himself, trying to see everywhere at once, but the cabin looked abandoned, the area around it overgrown and the little parking lot and road leading away coated with sticks and leaves. Wherever they were, maybe it was out of season for camping.

There was a lot of muted cussing from 'Kase as she worked around her feathers and talons to bump the lock, swung the door open just as the first raindrops fell. Quickly usher everyone in, Grump squeezing in last and hissing in aggravation as his feathers scraped the doorjamb—close the door, lock it, shutting the weather out. At least until they discovered a leak in the ceiling.

Tadashi said something about the girls taking the bunk as he and Sashi searched the whole cabin for a bucket for the leak and dry food for the rest of them. The bucket was a success, but the food wasn't, and when he came back from the little side room to see the rest of the adult-types trying to keep the kids from climbing the walls and ceiling he hoped fervently that whoever was in charge of taking care of these cabins just thought that raccoons had gotten in.

There was also the little issue of trying to keep the kids from drinking the rainwater leaking in, whether from the bucket or from standing under the leak with their mouths wide open, finally relented a little when Sashi pointed out that rainwater would be cleaner than anything else they had encountered so far.

The floor felt damp and dirty but it wasn't the ground, so he chalked that up as a win. Curl up near the door, 'Kase curling up against the back door as Beth and Sue and Brittany had an argument about how they were going to fit on the bed, Brittany finally picking a spot on the floor out and telling the two older women to go ahead she was fine. Sashi paced around a little before finally picking a spot in the corner opposite of Grump.

The kids took a little longer to wind down, but at least they couldn't get out or get into something that could hurt them (they had looked). Tadashi had almost dozed off when Nox flopped on him, crawling all over him before snuggling up against his chest, _Dashi-Dashi-Dashi_ punctuating his chirps and squeaks and squawks.

"Finally have enough?" he murmured, teetering on that edge between being fully awake and fully asleep. Nox chirruped something in response, burrowing closer to him in an attempt to get away from the damp chill in the air. Blearily force his eyes open to check the others—the kids were gravitating to the others and snuggling close against the cold, Webby apparently uncertain whether she wanted to be with Lena and Violet or Della and Dewey before finally making a decision. Tadashi had to bite back a groan at another kid crawling all over him and chirping, waking Nox up and getting him going again before the both of them snuggled in, asleep within moments.

He wasn't sure how far they had travelled, but it had to have been farther than they could have managed in a day on foot—they could catch up on their sleep during this rainstorm, and when it broke hopefully they'd all be recharged enough to make some good headway. Flying was faster and easier, he had to admit.

It was also something he didn't want to rely too heavily on—if they did, when it came time to go back to normal…he had read that someone who had tasted flight always wanted to go back to it, and they didn't need that…temptation, maybe.

He knew he didn't—knew he didn't need his back muscles prickling like they were, aching in a pleasant way, knew he didn't need the memory of how the way they moved just fell into place when he was flying. They didn't need that. They needed to get back to normal.

They needed to get home.

* * *

Tadashi started awake from a nightmare involving Callaghan chasing Hiro down with his microbots to find that the bucket had majorly overflowed in the middle of the night, soaking a good portion of the floor around it and prompting Grump to move from his now-flooded corner.

The next thing worth noting about this was the fact that the kids had woken up and decided that the now-mud on the floor was something grand to play in—Trisha woke Brittany up when she smeared a handful on the older girl, and all of the kids had handprints and smears all over themselves.

It took nearly an hour to get everyone cleaned up, and when they did no one objected to more flying despite the threat of more rain—no one wanted to go trapezing through the mud (well, the kids might, but no one was looking forward to cleaning them up).

It still took a few tries to get airborne, but once they were in the air things went smoothly, all things considered—the kids were still all over, flying this way and that despite everyone's best efforts to keep them herded and heading in the right direction. Tadashi's wings and back were protesting the exercise after so long on the ground, even as his body from the hips down welcomed the relief, and it took several hours to get rid of the stiffness he had gained sleeping on a hard floor—which was about the time the rain started.

They had to dive for the first relatively clear patch they could find, which was almost too small—wingtips scraped against branches on the way down, and Brittany miscalculated and went tumbling—fortunately landing in a soft spot and doing nothing worse than bending a few feathers. Hasten under the trees, searching for someplace where the rain wasn't coming through so hard so Sashi could get started on those lean-tos he had been talking about yesterday, Tadashi helping as the others kept the kids corralled—

By the time they had done so, everyone was already soaked to the bone and miserable, and the kids started tugging on them and squawking open-mouthed in the way they did when they were starving and couldn't take it anymore—Sashi unenthusiastically volunteered to go foraging, and Tadashi volunteered to help so he wouldn't be cold and miserable by himself.

Plus, he noted, hearing a stream increase from a trickle to a deluge somewhere in the haze of greenery, Sashi would need backup in case he ran into trouble.

It was a few minutes after they started down the slope that they were aware of Nox following, planting himself next to Tadashi and ignoring his attempts to direct him back to the lean-tos. Della and Dewey followed next, and from the sounds of it the rest of them had been successfully detained.

It was too wet and he was too tired to argue—let Sashi know they were still looking, continue through the underbrush as the three kids followed and bounded around and tussled, Tadashi keeping an eye on them as they picked their way through.

"I mean, we're making good time, I guess," Sashi said, checking under bushes for edible mushrooms, pausing frequently to wipe the rain from his glasses. "And we won't have to waste time boiling rainwater, which is great considering we don't have anything dry enough to burn…but I don't know, this weather's pretty persistent. We didn't fly to Washington, did we?"

"There's a lot of mountains between where we were and Washington," Tadashi told him. "I think we're west enough of the Sierra Nevadas that we can't see them—we have to be in California somewhere."

Sashi sat up, sighed long and through the nose, looked around. "Yeah, maybe—those birds up there are native to California, so maybe. I mean, it's not like birds have some sort of concept of state borders or something like that, but we have to be close or there."

Tadashi nodded absently, already thinking of how they were going to navigate around the more densely-populated areas between them and San Fransokyo—maybe night-flying, but that was dicey—in the desert, sure, but over towns and cities that would have tall buildings and lights—

He was watching the kids, huddled in on himself and trying to ignore the rain trickling through his hair and down his neck, tug up the hood of his hoodie when that wasn't working. The kids had leaves sticking wetly to them, didn't seem to mind—Della jumped up on a branch poking over the next incline—he opened his mouth to tell her to get down—

As soon as she put her full weight on it the branch snapped, sending her shrieking down the incline—he jumped forward, clean over Sashi—

Another loud snap, almost like the crack of a rifle, and then Della was shrieking in a new crescendo, slicing straight through him.

_"Della!"_ he screamed, sliding down the incline, cursing the rain trying to blind him, trying to hone in on the source of the screaming—_"Della!"_

Sashi was sliding after him, Nox and Dewey shrieking at the top of the steep hill, Della's fear and pain infecting them and making them wail—

Finally found her, wings flailing and eyes rolling, tail thrashing, right leg bending in the wrong spot—

"She broke her leg!" Tadashi yelled—lightning was cracking overhead now, thunder echoing through his bones. "I can't—Sashi, you know how to set a broken bone, right?" When he nodded—"Go get Beth or someone to help hold her still—we have to set it—"

It felt like an eternity before Sashi came back with Beth and Brittany, an eternity Tadashi spent trying to keep Della pinned so she wouldn't thrash and make it worse, trying to howl over her screams and the rain and the thunder at Dewey and Nox to _go back to the others_—Beth pinned her wings and arms, Brittany her good leg and tail—

About halfway through setting her leg and splinting it, Sashi running around and finding things that could substitute and helping Tadashi helping him—about halfway through Della stopped screaming and struggling. Tadashi left Sashi to finish the splint, checked her for signs of shock—maybe not, maybe she had just exhausted herself, had nothing left to give and just collapsed in a haze of pain; her eyes were pinned, her breathing shallow—they'd have to keep an eye on her, he had some idea from the research and reading he did to program Baymax but it was the sort of thing they needed a hospital for and they didn't _have_ a hospital and even if they did there was the question of if they would take her and the plain fact of the matter was if she went into shock she was dead—ask Sashi about some sort of anesthetic when he finished, maybe an antiseptic too. The bone hadn't broken the skin, fortunately, but….

Sashi nodded, started tearing through the underbrush muttering about there being a plant that would work—Tadashi helped the girls haul Della back, pausing to collect Dewey and Nox, now quiet and huddled against each other wide-eyed and terrified, kept them off of Della when they spotted her and wanted to swarm her, chirps and squeaks anxious.

Sashi finally came back, trying to get Della to chew on some plant while Tadashi and some of the others worked to keep the kids off of her, all of them swarmed around and terrified and low-key keening—one or two that had picked up a few words kept pointing at her and grabbing his arm or hoodie and asking "Okay? Okay?" over and over again—he kept trying to assure them she'd be fine, she'd be fine, they set her leg and it'd heal she'd be okay—

It was ages later when they all calmed down, when Della fell asleep—Grump surprised him by sitting next to Beth with a wing over them both, looking like he was almost concerned. They did their best, Tadashi wringing his brain to try and remember everything you were supposed to do he had reread that information when he downloaded it for Baymax because it seemed important to know he had worried he might need it for Hiro or if something happened to one of the café customers he never expected it to be a problem in a dark rainy forest with a bunch of terrified people whose biggest concerns up till now had been being hunted down or starving to death and he just felt _useless._

He was sitting against a tree, cradling his head and feeling drained—Nox came over to Tadashi, crawled in his lap and curled up; Tadashi tried to maneuver so he was keeping more of the dripping rain off of him.

He didn't know if they could fly with their wings weighed down like they were—and if they did, they were going to have to shuffle everyone around so they could carry Della; Grump would have to take an extra kid. But no, he felt they were probably going to have to walk for a while, at least until they dried enough to take off again.

And poor Della—he hadn't been expecting that, hadn't even _thought_ of that—people taking off was bad enough, and sure he had been concerned about injuries…and they had them, small scrapes and bruises—this was serious, this would take at least a few weeks to heal. They were going to have to take it easier until it did, slowing them down….

_Good thing we made good time the past couple of days,_ Tadashi thought sourly. _I'm sorry, Hiro—I can't leave them like this._

_Please—just wait for me a little longer._


	5. Shelter From the Storm

**Chapter 5, everybody! In which our intrepid heroes are rusting, not tanning. *bricked***

**Now let's take a moment and discuss the difference between certain bird chicks, which are split into two camps: altricial, which is like most flighted birds, and precocial, which is like chicks and geese and most grounded birds. Precocial birds are up and running shortly after they hatch and can feed themselves once they're shown a food source, but still need to be kept warm until their feathers grow in. Altricial are born naked and blind, and need to be fed and kept warm until they're flighted; their eyes open after about ten days, much like kittens. With this in mind, bird-kids are apparently somewhere in the middle: born blind but with fluff and able to see after about ten days.**

**Also on the topic of birds: some birds do indeed have waterproof feathers, usually coupled with diets high in fish and fish oil (but not always, as in the case of ducks and geese). Other birds do have feathers that repel water for a short amount of time, but usually most birds either keep moving or go to shelter when it rains. Their bones are also hollow, which also helps them get into the air as bones count for a lot of body weight otherwise.**

**And one more bit of bird-nerdism: birds much prefer to have something to grip or to have their feet planted on something solid and will panic if they don't have something to grip. Most if not all perching birds have a failsafe tendon that tightens when they settle on their perch, thus furthering their security. Birds are usually only fine with not gripping anything when they really,****_ really_**** trust you.**

**And with both animals and young children, there's a thing about object permanence and time estimation—which is why they cry when someone important disappears from their line of sight.**

**But in other news: dandelions are AWESOME you can eat the whole thing the roots are what make root beer the leaves are used in salads you can even eat the seeds and the white stuff is used in plastics dandelions are the MVP of the yard seriously stop with the weedkiller already friends this is not going to be the first time I advertise dandelions so get ready to root for the little guys. :D**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Ah, no they aren't—I've never broken one myself, knock on wood, but my Dad broke some ribs a few years back now and that was NO FUN. Tadashi's getting into Ultimate Dad™ mode—all he's missing is the puns. :D I know…the series gives us a bit more, but it's always with a helping dose of OH MY HEART. And AAAA thank you! ;v;/**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

Della made it through the night.

The rain hadn't abated, and the only thing theoretically keeping them dry was leaking profusely—Tadashi spent most of the next day helping Sashi haul more branches onto the lean-to and strengthening the supports, exhaustion and wet finally driving them back under the shelter that was only moderately less wet.

The kids were subdued from one of their own being injured, and probably the only thing keeping Della from keening like she had in the morning was the painkiller plant Sashi had found and was making her chew on—the others kept tugging on Sashi, tugging on Tadashi, tugging on all of them and opening their mouths wide as they could, keening noises echoing weirdly through the forest, begging for food. Sashi finally went back out, Brittany going with him this time, telling Tadashi in no uncertain terms that he needed to get some sleep before he died.

He wanted sleep—he wanted it so badly it was causing an extra layer of pain over everything else, but he couldn't sleep, he was too cold and wet and he needed to be awake for everyone….

Sue was poking him now, alerting him to the fact that he _had_ fallen asleep at some point, told him that Sashi had found some dandelions and be careful they were bitter but they were better than nothing.

They _were_ bitter, and made the hunger worse for lessening it only a little—he relaxed the ruling on drinking rainwater, hoping that would help fill the kids up, if at least temporarily….

They were going to have to get moving again, he reflected as the forest went dark again—the misery was starting to get suffocating.

Nox was curled up in his lap again, whimpering a little at the pains in his stomach—Tadashi rocked him, making shushing noises and trying to reassure him that everything was going to be okay. Memories bubbled up, of having to do this for Hiro after a bad nightmare, or right after their parents had died—

"I ever tell you you remind me of my little brother Hiro?" he asked softly, a wistful smile not quite making it to his face and eyes watering from more than just itchy tiredness. He wanted to get back home, had to get back home Hiro needed him Aunt Cass needed him especially during the busy seasons—

He felt someone sit next to him, knew from his slightly improved night vision it was 'Kase.

"The kids are worried about Della," she said quietly.

He nodded, knowing this. "She'll make it," he said thickly. "She made it through the night, she'll make it."

She nodded. "Now, the _adults_ are worried about _you."_

"This was my fault" tumbled out before he could catch it, had no choice but to follow it. "I should have marched them back up here—I was just—I wanted to hurry up and get out of the rain—I was hoping—I was hoping to get home faster."

Silence.

"You know," she said finally. "Nothing's stopping you."

He shook his head. "I can't just—I can't _leave_ you guys—someone has to help."

She snorted. "You have a real hero complex, you know that?"

He nodded. "I think it's more…I don't know. You have to help people, especially the ones right in front of you."

"Even when they don't want your help."

He looked at her in the gloom. "Do…_you_ want my help? I-I mean, I'm—I'm not really sure why…."

He felt more than saw her shrug. "I felt like I owed you—there were…a lot of people that were taken away never came back. I'm not stupid—I know they didn't get a pat on the head and were sent on their way. I…kind of owed you my life."

He processed this, didn't even know how to begin discussing it. "And now?"

"Now…I don't know. You're like this overexcited St. Bernard, running through the snow rescuing people and not realizing you're in trouble until you're floundering in the snow and getting buried yourself. I guess I feel like I owe it to you—to at least get you back to your brother." Fidget. "And it's not like I have anything better to do."

He shifted a little—couldn't exactly move his arms without dislodging Nox, but he was able to unfold a wing to touch against her shoulder.

"Thank you," he said, voice thickening again. "I…I don't know, I feel like I'm slowly going insane…I don't want these people following me and—and expecting me to know everything, but I can't—I know you think I'm crazy, but I have to help."

She sighed; nudged an elbow against him. "You know, one of these days you're going to kill yourself like this."

He nodded, thinking—he could have died in that fire, trying to help a man who had turned around and tried to kill him, for reasons he _still_ didn't know. If he hadn't tried—if he hadn't run into that burning building, if he had stayed with Hiro—he wouldn't be here, would have never learned of these people, would have never set them free…would Della still be alive? Would any of them? But he would never have known them to care—if he had made that one decision, to stay instead of trying to help….

He probably would have been unable to live with himself—because he would have known that he _could_ have helped, but that he didn't—he couldn't handle that. It was like walking away now—the guilt would eat him alive, if he made such a decision.

_Guilt was eating at him now though—Della had gotten hurt, and he had no idea what state Hiro was in without him did he think he was dead what was Callaghan doing he wouldn't hurt Hiro please no—_

…But he had also thought Callaghan wouldn't hurt _him_, and here he was, burn scars freezing in the rain and pulling with every movement.

He sighed deeply—'Kase was right, he was killing himself, there was no benefit to this circular reasoning, he was hanged if he did and hanged if he didn't. He had to let go, if only a little.

_Hiro will be fine,_ he told himself_. He has Aunt Cass—Callaghan only went after me because I saw him. Hiro will be fine—I have to believe that. I have to believe that he can handle a few more weeks without me._

_I have to believe I can handle a few more weeks without me there to protect him._

* * *

Walking was awful, especially only on two legs—everyone agreed on this point.

Walking on two legs in the _cold_ and the _wet_ and the _rain_ was worse.

All of them had been complaining about leaving the shelter and going into the worse wet that had been going forever and ever and ages and ages and Nox could hardly remember a time without rain the rain had been going on _forever_ even though he knew he had been in a place that had been dry dry dry and hot hot hot and cold cold cold but now he was wet wet wet and cold cold cold and it had seeped through his feathers and was making his wings and tail heavy and the _sweater_ and _pants_ that the olders made them wear were getting heavy and wet wet wet too and he squawked his complaints louder because he hated it hated it hated it, tugging on 'Dashi's arm to make sure he was paying attention to how much Nox _hated this._

Webby was doing so on 'Dashi's other side, echoing Nox's complaints everyone hated it but Della hated it most because she had to ride on Grump's back and was forced to chew on nasty green stuff and she was very vocal about how much she hated it hated it hated it and hated how her leg hurt and was bound and hated not being able to walk and hated not being able to fly and hated being soaking wet and hated how her mouth tasted because of the green Sashi made her eat because it was gross and everyone was complaining and hating everything until Grump finally had enough and roared at them to _shut up._

"Oh thank you," 'Kase muttered.

Nox waited for a few _minutes_ it felt like minutes it felt like forever—tugged on 'Dashi's arm again, quietly keening as he looked up at him. 'Dashi's _hoodie_ was no longer covering his arms, 'Dashi had ripped at it to make the thing binding Della's leg now 'Dashi had been scared too and he didn't like to think about that because 'Dashi was _good_ and _safe_ and older-brother and knew-everything and was smart and Nox was hungry and tired and that was starting to override everything and he tried tugging on 'Dashi's arm again he was holding Nox's hand and Webby's hand and he looked tired and wet and exhausted too but this was _'Dashi_ 'Dashi could fix things 'Dashi was good—

"I know, I know," 'Dashi sighed. "But we can't wait any longer for the weather to break—we have to either find a better shelter or keep walking until we get out of the storm."

_Storm_ was the big thing hanging overhead that made them wet wet wet and made it dark dark dark and took away all the light and all the shadow and made it blinding bright in an eyeblink and followed it with a BOOM that rattled in his bones that felt lighter in the storm but the rain made his feathers wet wet wet and kept him grounded and he didn't _like_ that and he didn't like that Della had gotten hurt—

Her screams were still echoing through his bones ages and ages after the fact—the way they communicated might have been good and nice and worked so much better than _words_ because you could say a hundred things just like that but that also meant that what you said was what you said and when you screamed in pain it cut through everyone and everyone knew the blinding white panic of sharp _snap_ and _bend_ and _that's not right_ and the moment when you returned to your body and realized nothing but _hurt_ and _pain _waited for you and he was still feeling that and feeling a sour taste in the back of his mouth that not even the nasty greens or the cool rainwater could get rid of why couldn't they eat the shiny wrigglings that smelled like _food_ or the hopping things that smelled sour but could be _food _he was hungry he was _starving_ he had never been full never never never he had only ever been hungry hungry hungry and the pain was everything the pain was radiating from his stomach and making him hurt all the way to his wingtips and no amount of squawking or keening was fixing this and no amount of rainwater made it better he wanted food he wanted to eat he didn't want to walk walking was _awful_ and he _HATED IT._

Tug on 'Dashi's arm harder—'Dashi would fix this 'Dashi was good _please_ fix this please make the wet stop and the hunger stop _please—_

"Not yet—we're almost there, but not yet, okay?" 'Dashi said.

No—no no no _not yet_ meant _forever_ and he couldn't _do_ forever—

That was it—he couldn't take it anymore, he had tried he had tried being good he had tried being quiet he had tried _walking_ in the wet wet wet and he couldn't take it anymore, he hated it he hated everything he hated how his feet hurt and how the mud squelched and sucked and he hated the wet wet wet and cold cold cold that was now in his very bones and he hated being hungry hungry hungry so hungry it _hurt—_

He flopped straight down, 'Dashi jerking sideways from keeping a grip on his hand—flopped down flat on the ground, facedown, wings flopped wet and heavy to the sides, keening hard he had never had a tantrum never ever but he was going to have one now he hated this he hated everything he wanted _food_ he wanted _dry_ he wanted anything but cold and wet and hungry—

Grump roared as 'Dashi tried to pull him upright, cutting over 'Dashi's _please get up we're almost there I swear_—

Nox sat up, screeched at Grump, all the pain and frustration and hate for the cold and wet and hunger, that got all the others started—Grump scowled, started stalking forward—Grump had never hit any of them Grump looked like he _wanted_ to hit them but he never had but Nox didn't care anymore he just wanted this to be over he wanted to be warm and dry and full again he wanted back to before Della broke her leg when they were all running around happily and it wasn't wet and cold it had been wet and cold _forever_—

'Kase had gone around them all, 'Dashi planted himself between Nox and Grump, trying to make himself known over the screeching the olders were trying to stop, trying to say _no Grump no_ and _Nox PLEASE get up this isn't going to help_ and _Webby no not you too—_barely heard 'Kase shriek _guys! Look! Look up here!_

But 'Dashi heard, 'Dashi grabbed Nox and Webby around the waist and hauled them up, running for 'Kase and ignoring Nox and Webby's squawking and flailing this was _not nice_ he didn't like being held like this he wanted to be holding something his claws didn't have anything to grip _no no no bad—_

'Dashi stopped at the crest of the next rise next to 'Kase, was looking down at something that looked like something Nox had seen before but it was ages and ages and ages ago it had been forever ago there had never been anything but the cold and wet—

Webby connected it first, joyful shriek saying that _that_ was _warm dry dry dry not wet good dry inside—_

'Dashi's joyful shriek was next.

_"YES!"_ he bellowed, causing Nox a moment of panic when he went weak-kneed. _"YES! THANK YOU! GUYS! GUYS COME ON JUST GRAB THE KIDS AND GO THERE'S A CABIN DOWN THERE!"_

Nox was still flailing and squawking at being carried like this, but 'Dashi was excited and that meant _good_ so he started warbling hopefully Webby making high _fwee_s that told the others _yes good yes come come yes please_—

And it seemed all at once 'Kase had gotten the _cabin_ open and 'Dashi had them plopped down before joining her in romping through the place and then running out to grab everyone and help haul them in it was dry it was dry in this nest even though he was soaking wet and cold straight to the bone he didn't have any more _rain_ pattering on his head it was pattering on something else now and not touching him—

He flopped down on the ground, feathers and _clothes_ squelching wetly. He was tired, he was wet, he was cold, but it was not _rain_ and it was not _mud_ and it was not that permeating _cold_ this was much much better….

'Dashi came back in, two of the others tucked under his arms and protesting—Nox silenced them with a weak warble, prompted them to tumble over to him and Webby with lots of squelching but this was much better.

He knew 'Dashi could do it. 'Dashi was good.

'Dashi was always going to make sure they were safe.


	6. Waterlogged

**Chapter 6, everybody! In which we start drying off, resting up, and other things after taking the pets to their semi-annual checkup….Have you ever tried explaining social distancing to a happy Dalmatian? It is a concept they don't understand.**

**More bird-nerding time—altricial birds, the ones that hatch naked and have to stay in the nest? They'll also pop out of the nest with beaks open when mom and dad come back in order to be fed. Birds of any stripe also do not like being on their backs, and will only do so if they really, _REALLY_ trust you and are comfortable around you. Birds also really shouldn't eat Fruit Loops, but bird-kids get exemption rules. :) ****The chewing on their clothes is something parrots will do though, because they have that need to chew and wear their beaks down.**

**Now, Tadashi's dream sequence is partially based on something I don't quite recall at the moment (the bit when he's shaken awake, although I can't put my finger on it), also partially based on the one from _All Dogs Go To Heaven_. Don Bluth knows how to make a scene that sticks with a person. :O As for dealing with soaking wet clothes…partially based on my Mom line-dancing so hard that she soaks her clothes with sweat, partially just puzzling out the logistics of bird-people. Tadashi doesn't appreciate being the guinea pig—although I suppose it would be guinea fowl in this case. *shrug***

**Also, as a general rule of thumb, young children and older individuals are often the ones at-risk for anything, from the flu to hypothermia. And rubbing the limbs down is generally a good idea when it comes to getting everything cir****culating again. ****And pretty sure Sashi is quoting the movie _Deja Vu._**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! YES! They're so wonderful and dead-useful and pretty to look at as well. :D Eee yes thank you I love writing those parts—and maybe, but at least everyone will be dry. Grump is 100% a grump and he doesn't appreciate people saying otherwise but he'll get over it. :D**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

Whoever's cabin this was, they would probably have a fit when they came back.

Tadashi kept muttering muted apologies as they got everyone in and into the main room, constantly eyeing the mud they were tracking in and the water they were dripping everywhere—and then Grump shook himself, which apparently told the kids they could do the same—now _everything_ was wet.

Not that he thought he could tell—he had to have at least fifty pounds of water clinging to him. And wet feathers, as it turned out, were not like wet clothes _at all_—wet clothes hung on you and dragged you down. Wet feathers, as he found out, squelching through the one-story cabin in search of towels, hung on you and dragged you down, and _hurt_ besides because oh yeah, they're attached. By the time he found the linen closet and headed back to the living room, enough warmth had returned to his skin to let him know that it really hated him at the moment.

Of course, right now _warmth_ was a relative term, currently limited to _not having ice-cold rain dousing you_. Sashi was trying to get the fire in the fireplace started, but everyone was shivering—no one objected to him prioritizing getting the wet clothes off _first_.

Actually they did, but that didn't start until _after_ they tried peeling said wet clothes off—that was enough of a frustration when you _didn't_ have feathers, when your clothes were so wet you had to _roll_ them off. With feathers, having to roll wet clothes off also had you pulling your feathers the wrong way and getting them wrapped up in the fabric and pulling and ended up needing someone else's help because wings got in the way and can we discuss what an inconvenience a tail actually is?

And this was _before_ they tried getting the wet clothes off the kids.

The kids had, when they were first dressed, thrown major fits all throughout getting the clothes onto them and then for some time afterwards, until they got used to the feeling of clothes on them, he supposed. Every once in a while he'd catch one gnawing on their shirt, but after a while they seemed to forget about the clothes.

Getting the clothes back _off_ was a whole other production. Firstly because they didn't understand the concept, secondly because of having to peel the articles _off_, which tugged on feathers and caused conniptions and agitated squawks, and then trying to get them over wings and tails and flailing arms and legs and squawks and shrieks that was basically the audio equivalent of shooting a javelin through your ears and using a cannon to do so—and the fact that the kids outnumbered the adults capable of undressing them two to one, so after the first couple that ended up needing two people to handle one kid, the rest of them _knew_ and scrambled through the house trying to avoid the fate that had befallen their brethren—there was a _lot_ of slipping and sliding and falling trying to chase them down. Fortunately, Grump blocked the front door, and it apparently hadn't occurred to any of the kids to try unlocking the back door—which was good, because trying to wrangle them was enough of a pain without having to do it outside in the rain and muck.

Eventually, though, they had the last of the kids peeled off the ceiling and shucked of their clothes—there was some agitated squawking and muttering as Sue hauled the clothes to the laundry room (which they had found during their pursuits) while Tadashi divested the linen closet of every towel it possessed. He guessed that now that they had become _used_ to the clothes, they'd be moaning because now they weren't wearing them—a thought that made him suddenly very interested in the ceiling when Beth went by, even though wet feathers still covered everything as well as dry ones.

Sashi managed to get the fire started, started building it up carefully, grate handy for when he could leave it alone and ready to keep small curious fingers out; finished up and went to help Sue—Tadashi figured he was trying to opt out of trying to dry off thirteen sopping wet kids.

It became abundantly clear to Tadashi that they'd run out of dry towels before everyone was fully dry—started taking the kids into the bathroom to find that Beth had gotten ahead of him on this one and had Trisha in the tub, gently pushing the worst of the water off of her and making sure she had a grip on the little bird-kid. Tadashi wrung one of his wings out in the sink, started a production line swapping kids in and out, Brittany dripping by the fire and working on the first of the kids with the towels.

Sashi had wrung himself out and built the fire up further when they finished getting the worst off of the kids, sagged and slouched to the back door—Tadashi leaned into the hall to see Sashi open the back door, look, step out, come back in with an armful of wood.

"Might as well start getting this dried," he muttered on his way by.

"You're doing good, Sashi," Tadashi assured him. "And Grump, go wring out in the tub."

Grump grumbled something and kept grooming himself where he sat—he was surprisingly skinny when all that fluff was wet, Tadashi noticed.

He shook his head, went back to drying Nox off, scrubbing his hair dry and trying to encourage circulation—that was the priority: get everyone as dry as possible and make sure their blood was pumping. As cold as he felt, hypothermia had to be a problem looming over the horizon.

Nox, meanwhile, was loving it, warbling and burbling and chirping—at least it was an improvement over the earlier tantrum _why_ hadn't he seen that coming—

"No more of those tantrums, okay?" he asked, pulling the towel down to start on his face and neck. "I know why you did it, but no more of those, okay?"

Nox didn't seem to care, Nox was too busy making happy noises and looking at him with those blue eyes—the same shade as Grump's, but not Grump's eyes. Grump's eyes were cold, calculating, narrow—Nox's were wide and warm, and Tadashi figured the color was something they both got from _O_, whoever he had been.

Nox's eyes were also filled with an adoration he didn't think he deserved—a proper dry shelter literally within walking distance—they didn't have to spend so long in the lean-to, they could have avoided Della breaking her leg entirely—his fault, he could have done better—if he had said to keep going—

Nox tapped his chest, making a concerned warble, alerting him to the fact that he had stopped—he pulled himself out of the morass he was getting sucked into, forced a smile at Nox.

"Sorry bud," he said, ruffling Nox's hair and getting a trilling laugh in response, Nox squirming and warbling before scootching closer. "Let's get you drier, huh?"

He focused on rubbing Nox's arms and legs, getting circulation going—wasn't sure about the tail, but definitely dried under the wings, where moisture seeping through the feathers had plastered the down against his pale skin. When he had gotten the worst off, when he had a soaking wet towel, he sent Nox to sit next to the fire with the other kids who had gotten relatively dry—Webby and Lena were already standing there, sighing, wings spread and eyes closed.

By the time they had finished, everyone was at the point of _drier than they were_, which was an improvement, and all the soaking-wet towels had been wrung out as best they could in the tub and then hung up in the laundry room. There was a bedroom that was _very_ tempting to his bone-tired self, but that felt like overreaching when they were already straining strangers' unintended goodwill.

He did steal the pillows, though, threw them in the living room along with the blankets that had filled the rest of the linen closet. Sashi had the room nice and toasty, and he could smell musty feathers starting to actually dry.

He spent a few exhausted minutes in front of the fire, trying to pat his own feathers dry before going back to the blankets, helping Sue and Beth shake them out into a giant square and trying to make them thick enough that they wouldn't be sleeping on the floor and getting stiff backs. He was starting to register the warmth in the room, and he could hear some beaks clattering—get the kids in the center, hand Sue and Beth a pillow each and suggest they go there too, take one of the outside edges for himself—the kids and the two older women would be the ones most at-risk for hypothermia. Plus taking the edge meant he could spread his wings out and hopefully let them air-dry.

He had folded up a corner of the blankets to act as a pillow, had his eyes closed when he felt someone snuggling up against him. Hardly had to open his eyes to know who it was, but did anyway to see Nox squirming around in the blankets, chirping softly as he rubbed his face against the fabric.

"Hey," Tadashi noised, not really feeling enough energy for much else. There was a kitchen, there might be food, that'd be a good thing to check, but not tonight, not when he was bone-tired and fighting to keep his eyes open.

Nox squeaked, snuggled in close to him, damp feathers sticking against damp feathers—rolled to his side and started running his fingernails through some of Tadashi's ragged upper feathers.

"Hey, you, no—go to sleep," Tadashi muttered, squirming a little to get comfortable—the spur of his hip had decided it was going to find the floor anyway—coughed out a groan when Nox flopped on him. "Nox…."

"'Dashi," Nox noised, arms and wings spread over him in a hug. "Dashi-Dashi-Dashi."

"Yeah yeah I love you too—now stop squishing me."

"Yhhh-yhhh luff luff," came out in imitation, but he did snuggle between Tadashi's arm and chest instead of being fully on him—one damp wing was still flopped across him though.

"I don't even want to know," he muttered, ready to drop off into the oblivion of sleep.

"Sashi, shut up," Brittany muttered, as the kids started winding down.

"I'm sorry, I process things by talking about them too much," Sashi said.

"I wish you wouldn't."

"Let's be real here, this is the closest I've ever been to, you know, girls without clothes on."

"Keep this up and I'll throw you outside."

"I'm just saying I feel very close to you right now."

"Sashi, quit while you're behind," Tadashi called, not opening his eyes. Grump rumbled something, causing 'Kase to laugh. "What?"

"What he said," 'Kase said, and he wasn't sure if she was repeating him or agreeing with him and by this time sleep caught up with him and he didn't care.

* * *

_Hiro was in trouble—he didn't know from what or why, but he could see him running—a wave of darkness surging after him—_

_He knew this._

_He dove after him, snatched him away from the blackness, hugging him close, power-flapping to get away—_

_Fire—fire was eating at his feathers—toss Hiro to safety as the blackness pulled him down—crashing into the hall, looking up at Callaghan looking down at him—_

_"I'll let you in if you kill him," he said, sounding like he was at the other end of a train station. "That's the prerequisite for getting into SFIT."_

_And then watching Hiro as he grabbed Tadashi by the neck—he could only kick weakly, not comprehending—he couldn't fight his brother—grab at his arms—_

_"Hiro," he wheezed—the fire had reached his skin now, melting the feathers to his arms—grab at the collar of Hiro's hoodie—_

_Red lines across Hiro's face, scoring across one of his eyes—_

_"Oh hon, don't you know monsters don't have families?"_

_The woman from the hospital—Hiro—Hiro no—_

_Hiro was looking like he had been mauled, then burnt to a crisp, then crumbling, all the while still with the grip on him, still shaking—no, no—_

_"Tadashi—Tadashi—T'dashi…."_

"Dssshi. T'dshiii. Dasshi-Dashi-Dashi. _Daaaah-shiiii."_

Tadashi snapped his eyes open, nearly vaulted upright before he realized where he was, who was looking down at him—Nox and a few of the other kids, hands on him and shaking him. Rain was still going outside, but not as heavy as it had been yesterday, pale pale lighting suggesting it was almost dawn.

"Hey!" he squeaked, throat still tight from the nightmare draining from his consciousness. Nox immediately chirped brightly in response, prompting a little series of echoes before opening his mouth wide and pointing.

"Right," he muttered, rolling upright. "I've been meaning to get to that."

His wings were stiff from him rolling onto them—they had folded up sometime in the night, and having wings meant you didn't sleep on your back anymore without pain. Hobbled into the kitchen, slipping a little on the damp polished floors, started rooting around in the cabinets for something he could give a bunch of hungry kids on short notice.

Open the next cabinet after the first had pots and pans, rub at his face and mutter incoherently—as soon as he found something to tide these kids over he was going back to bed—open the next one to find cereal in glass jars.

"Okay," he muttered, pulling one of the jars out and turning it over—Fruit Loops, he thought, and no sign of bugs in them either—judging by the state of this cabin, people used it more often. Find one of those disposable pans you used at potlucks, dump the whole thing into it—

The kids started chirping excitedly at the noise, bouncing up and down—stiffly extend a wing to help keep them off while he took the pan to a relatively clear spot and put it down, lift his wing up—

He was going to prioritize table manners as soon as he could, but for now the kids were busy and hopefully they'd be full and he had blankets he wanted to get back to—spot Grump eyeing him through one slitted eye, shrug. Grump closed his eye and went back to sleep, and Tadashi decided to follow that lead.

He felt a few sets of feet patter across him shortly after he had laid back down, heading for the pan of cereal that sounded like it was rapidly emptying, heard lots of hissing and yipping—forced himself to look to see some of the older kids bickering as the little fluffballs snuck handfuls—Dewey and Louie were pawing at each other and completely missed Mei planting herself between them and quickly putting one Fruit Loop at a time in her mouth. Huey seemed to be wanting to sort the Fruit Loops by color, was squawking at Violet and Drew for ignoring his system (_should have named him Wasabi_, he thought drily). Saw Nox grab a handful, head over—

"Please no crumbs in the bed," Tadashi muttered, causing Nox to pause, sit on his haunches, look—edge around the bed, continually peering towards the center—glance at Tadashi before padding over quickly and poking someone, making soft clicks and whistles.

Della sat up, looking bleary—switched to excited when Nox put the handful of cereal into hers, quickly start stuffing the cereal into her beak as Nox sat back and licked his hands.

Tadashi smiled, had started to drift back off when he felt a little body snuggling in against him, muted chirps and squeaks and '_Dashi_s mumbled into the sheets. Tadashi moved a little so Nox could find a good spot, half-spread a wing so he'd be under it.

"Good boy," he murmured, before sleep took him again.


	7. Social Grooming

**Chapter 7, everybody! In other news, Microsoft Word randomly decided that "Baymax" is now a real word, which threw me because I've grown used to seeing that squiggly red line under the name of everyone's favorite healthcare robot. :|**

**There's actually a fancy term for social grooming with birds called allopreening—I was tempted to use it, but it's not exactly a term you find without some hunting, so it didn't make sense for these guys to use it. Oatmeal is also good for birds, but we recommend fruit oatmeal since humans can eat a wider range of spices (and everything else) than animals can. For example, caffeine does not agree with most animals and should not be given to them. It also should not be given to bird-kids because they're already climbing the walls without it. Plain or fruit oatmeal is fine though, and sometimes we spoon-feed our parrots, which they seem to enjoy. :)**

**Also, please don't do what Tadashi does and drink spit-coffee, that's how you get other-people germs. D:**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! YES I've been doing that ****_squirming with happiness_**** dance whenever I write the kid interactions I love these guys. :D Yeah most breakfast cereal isn't good for birds—some of it's the additives, but mostly it's because cereal's fortified with vitamins for _people,_ which means that it'd be too much for a bird. D: Fortunately, bird-people do not have this problem. :) Yeah, that doesn't happen for a good while, but I was working on it the other day and let me tell you it is CUTE. :D**

**Blyssabella, thanks for the review! Thank you! I can guarantee more, definitely—barring any odd delays or chances to up posting, we're good for Tuesday updates clean into October. :D**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

The next time he woke up it was to the smell of coffee.

"Mmnngh…whatimezzit?" he groaned, stretching, trying very hard to ignore the feeling of wings and tail moving or bird feet flexing, trying to roll to his back before realizing he had someone snuggled up there—and on his front—oh no they were everywhere.

"Haven't a clue," Sue said, padding over with a mug. "But we have coffee now and Beth started oatmeal when she got up this morning, so it should be ready and should keep everyone full for a while. Want some?"

He did—prop himself up, had to take a moment to get coordination going enough to take the mug without spilling it, managed to get to a sitting position and sip it.

"Oggghkk—" Tadashi choked, managed to swallow the coffee by sheer force of will—promptly check his chest because that _had_ to have given him chest hair—chest feathers? _Something_.

"Yeah," Sue said. "Little strong."

Little strong—and they had only been a _little_ wet yesterday. Nod, cough, brace himself before taking another sip—strong enough to make his feathers want to stand on end, even if they were still tacky from damp. "Definitely wakes you up," he wheezed finally.

Sue shrugged, headed for the kitchen, Harry and Drew following her and chirping hopefully—reminded him to check on his own little gaggle of fluffballs, saw that Lena had curled up on one side, Violet curled up against her, Nox in his usual spot on the other.

Nox also seemed to be chasing something, if the way he kept twitching was any indication.

"Yeah, you go Nox," Tadashi muttered, taking another sip of coffee—he was either growing used to it or desensitized to it, he couldn't decide which. "Get it—what are you chasing, huh?"

Watch his expression…there was something concerning about it, about the way it was crumpling up—he was starting to think it was less Nox chasing something and more something chasing Nox.

"Hey," he said softly, shaking Nox gently, hand on a folded wing. "Hey, wake up—Nox, wake up—"

Nox suddenly woke up, shoving himself bolt upright, eyes wide, on high alert, looking everywhere—

"Morning," Tadashi greeted—he didn't know if it was or not, it looked like the fireplace was the only source of light but that could have been from the storm. That was a non-issue though—he was more focused on getting Nox focused on him and calmed down.

It worked—Nox went from feathers stood on end to relaxed, immediately crawling into his lap and snuggling close, muttering _Dashi-Dashi-Dashi_ as he did so.

"Yeah, yeah, you're okay," Tadashi told him, rubbing the spot between his wings—at least once a day he wondered about their current anatomy, his biggest beef being how wings operated with existing arms and worked to lift them off the ground besides. 'Kase, he could forgive, but the rest of them…pretty questionable. Even Grump, although he was questionable from head to toe for being a griffin.

Nox was fully relaxed and calm now, to the point that Tadashi was pretty sure he had fallen back asleep—was proven wrong when he tried to take another sip of coffee, prompting Nox to lift his head and sniff at the cup.

"Uh, _no_—trust me, you don't want this," Tadashi said, stretching to keep the cup out of Nox's reach—Nox started to climb on him, sending him teetering backwards and threatening to spill the coffee—"All right, all right, fine! I don't want to hear it though." Lower the cup, let Nox sip—

Nox immediately spat it back into the cup and plastered himself against the blankets, gnawing and rubbing his face against them and keening enough to wake Lena and Violet up.

"I _told_ you," Tadashi said, watching him flail before looking back at his coffee.

"Meh, I've had worse," he muttered, taking another sip—and he had, having a little brother you helped care for kind of desensitized you to little things like spit and snot. Notice Lena and Violet watching him, start chirping with nostrils twitching—"Oho no—you see Nox? He wanted to try it too, and look where _that_ got him."

The two girls leaned to watch Nox for a minute, still throwing what Tadashi figured was a minor hissy fit (Hiro had been good for those)—Lena returned her attention to Tadashi first, made a waving motion with her hand. He obliged her—she put a finger in the coffee before putting the finger in her mouth. Well, at least she didn't go for a whole mouthful….

Violet warbled a question, got her answer when Lena's feathers stood on end and she made a disgusted face. And then started squawking at Tadashi with concern when he took another sip.

"It's an acquired taste," he assured them. "Hey who made the coffee anyway?" he asked Sue as she went by, hands full of bowls and spoons. "And did you test it with a horseshoe?"

"Very funny," she called back, helping Beth spoon out some oatmeal. Put a steaming bowl in front of Grump, hand one with a spoon to 'Kase—next two went to Brittany and Sashi—

"Oh this feels good on my hands," Sashi moaned—he looked freshly damp, probably had to run out and get more wood in here and drying. "I kind of want to spread it all over, maybe it'll keep the rest of me warm."

"Please don't," Tadashi begged. "Then the kids will want to and it'll take forever to get them clean."

"I said _kind of_, not _will do."_

Sue and Beth had a line of bowls set up and cooling now—and now Beth had Mei sitting in front of her, blew on a spoonful of oatmeal to cool it before offering it to the little fuzzball.

Mei sniffed at it as Sue went to retrieve Della, gingerly tested it with her beak, touching her tongue against it, finally took a proper bite. Brightened immediately—swallowed, started whistling happily.

The other kids instantly sat up, ears perked.

"Uh," Tadashi managed to get out—

His attempts to help restore order made no dent, nor did trying to give the kids a crash course on spoons or table manners—finally had to resignedly put a pot on the front step to start filling up with water, return to the living room to watch the kids eat, either grabbing handfuls and putting them in their mouths or burying their faces in the bowls. Mei, it seemed, was the only one satisfied with eating one spoonful at a time.

"It's like we should be hearing buzzsaws," Sashi muttered, and Tadashi couldn't exactly argue with that sentiment.

On the positive side, the kids were definitely interested in licking themselves clean after clearing the bowls of all contents—still brought in the now-full pot of water to heat a little, go to the kitchen and root around until he found a couple of washcloths, scrubbing their faces and beaks with Sue's assistance. _Beth_ had the well-behaved one—_Beth_ could wait until Mei was happily full and wanting to curl up in her lap and sleep.

Tadashi was finally able to address his own bowl, the contents of which sat warmly in his stomach and prompted him to repeat the _thanks for the wonderful meal _part of the prayer, among other things—Huey was watching him use the spoon, so there might be at least _one_…several of the others were just waiting for him to drop his guard.

They stayed up for a couple of hours, discussing things, such as where they were and how much longer it would be, whether they should stay put until the weather properly broke or try to press on…they all agreed on staying, no one wanted wet feathers, no one wanted to tromp through the mud, and no one wanted another repeat of Della's disaster. Plus, staying still and sleeping would give them _all_ some much-needed energy, and give Della's leg a chance to heal—at least a little.

Tadashi helped Sashi bring a few armloads of wood in, stood dripping in the foyer afterwards discussing whether or not the cabin had electricity and/or a generator and if it would be worth it to turn it on…they eventually decided against looking, if only because neither of them wanted to be outside any longer than they had to.

The kids were running around, squealing and squawking, Della protesting loudly for being held in place by Sue—Tadashi picked up the potluck pan, noted the bite marks—should have thought about that.

Several kids immediately stopped, looking at him hopefully.

"Seriously?" he asked. "You _just_ had oatmeal—that's supposed to stick to your ribs until dinner!"

Louie was closest, started whistling and chirping in hopeful fashion—he had to head for the kitchen to avoid being swarmed.

"All right, all right—not this one though, and we're going to talk about you guys eating the dishes," he said, opening the cereal door first and pulling out what looked like Apple Jacks.

"Now we're going to be discussing _manners,"_ Tadashi said, as he poured the cereal into a fresh pan—an actual metal one this time, he didn't want them trying to eat tin foil again. "That means _not_ eating like it's going out of style, not risking choking yourselves, no pushing, no shoving—no tugging," he added, glancing at Nox with two handfuls of his feathers, squawking at Tadashi plaintively. "Eat like Mei does." Mei was the fastidious one—that'd be the one to get them to imitate. "And stop trying to eat the dishes."

They started crawling on him trying to get to the pan, took everything he had to get the pan back to where he had the other one and get it set down. The kids immediately hopped off him and resumed their buzzsaw-style of eating—apparently his lecture had gone in one ear and out the other.

"Yeah, we'll work on that," Tadashi sighed, retreating to the blankets. Beth was sitting there, nursing a cup of coffee, Mei sleeping in her lap.

"Why can't they all be _that_ calm?" Tadashi wondered, sitting down and indicating Mei.

"They can't all be perfect," Beth said. "You want another cup of coffee?"

Oof. "I don't think I have the strength."

Beth shrugged, the squawks eventually ceased, the coffee eventually disappeared, and Tadashi had to call it quits—no one in danger or starving and him ninety-percent dry and full had his body letting him know that it'd really like some more sleep.

Nox flopped on him a few minutes later.

"Hey," Tadashi muttered.

"Hhh," Nox noised back, burrowing against his chest.

"You know, when we get back you're probably going to have to start sleeping in your own bed." And then trying to figure out just how they were going to fit an extra bed in the house—his and Hiro's room would probably have to get shuffled around a bit, and he _knew_ Hiro would just _love_ that (not)—

Nox didn't seem concerned, squirming around a little before dropping off to sleep.

Tadashi joined him a few minutes later.

* * *

The next day was still drizzling, but it was bright enough that everyone was convinced the rain would be stopping soon—spend the day discussing plans, agreeing that maybe flying would be worth the risk, if for nothing else to avoid the mud as long as possible. Tadashi, quietly, cheered at the ability to make up for lost time, was going to grab onto that chance with both hands—he was missing home _so badly_—kept trying to squash thoughts of what he'd do when he got back home and back to normal (showers were on the top of the list), thoughts of him introducing these people to his friends and family, thoughts of how he'd probably have to dissuade Aunt Cass from taking _everyone_ in—get Baymax to check Della's leg, that'd be a good test for him—

Glance at Della—they'd probably have to wait to use the gene cleanser on her; he didn't want to think about what would happen to her leg if they tried it while it was still broken.

The kids, meanwhile, had been fed a combination of oatmeal and cereal again—Sue had found a tin of graham crackers and busted them out as well, and their appetites had gone from _ravenous inhaling_ to rapid eating, so that was good. And Huey _did_ try using a spoon for all of five minutes—had ditched it quickly when Dewey saw that as an opportunity to try and steal some of Huey's food. Gonna have to work on that.

There had been romping and tumbling after that, but now they had calmed down and were sitting around, running their fingers through each other's feathers and chirruping and whistling and generally sounding like they were trying to carry on a conversation without words—he wondered if they were. It would definitely explain the almost hive-mind they seemed to share.

Some of them eventually splintered off, started running their fingers through everyone else's feathers—he had to laugh at the concentration of kids currently on Grump, who seemed more exasperated than anything else at the moment. Nox was working on Tadashi, and it occurred to him that they were actually _grooming_ everybody.

He honestly had no idea what to do with this information, decided to just let the kids do their thing and focused back on the conversation at hand—Sashi was describing the edible plants he thought were in the area, wringing his head for details so they knew what they were looking for when they had to. Huey, busy with Sashi's wings, was paying rapt attention.

"Don't look now, Sashi, but I think you have a fan," Tadashi told him, prompting the other young man to look and see Huey watching him intently. This would be good though, Sashi needed someone who would listen to him like that—he knew the feeling of having all sorts of information and being desperate for someone to listen while he shared it.

Nox, meanwhile, had finished up with Tadashi's feathers—fortunately; Tadashi had had to keep in a hiss of pain every time Nox found one of his burn scars, which was common around his shoulders—crawled around to sit in front of Tadashi, fluffing his wings every few seconds and shooting Tadashi looks when he didn't do anything. Back up a little bit, wing-fluffing getting a little more pointed—squawked at him finally.

"What?" Tadashi asked, looking at Nox. Nox fluffed his wings again, watching Tadashi carefully…sighed, turned to face him and started running his fingers through his feathers—Tadashi jumped up with a squawk before Nox could get much farther than his knees.

Sashi started laughing so hard he rolled, stopped quickly when Huey started the same thing—the girls were giggling as Tadashi sat back down, face burning; stiff-armed Nox when he approached, intent obvious, let Nox come close after making sure he knew to sit down and not try that again. Nox sat down in front of him, looking at him pointedly as he ruffled his wings again—Tadashi hauled him onto his lap and started ruffling his hair, which seemed to do the trick; Nox went from relatively surly to warbling happily once that started.

"Why do you want me doing this anyway?" Tadashi asked. "I saw Lena do this to you already."

Nox burbled but otherwise didn't answer.

"He seems really attached to you," Beth observed. "You're going to have to sort out joint custody with his folks when this is all sorted out."

Tadashi nodded, said nothing—he didn't want to have to explain the clones to these nice people, who already had more than they could reasonably be expected to process dumped on them; being turned into bird-people was enough of a shock without explaining that someone like Nox didn't exactly _have_ a family to go back to.

_He will,_ he promised himself. _I know my family—they won't leave this poor kid high and dry. They won't._

"Funny," Brittany said, sipping her coffee (_she_ didn't mind the strength) and watching Trisha and Taylor work on her wings. "It's grooming, isn't it? Social grooming—I think I remember seeing the birds at the zoo do something like this, without the hands."

Now that she mentioned it—they had gone to the zoo once, when Hiro was _way_ younger…the kids were a lot like the colorful parrots in the aviary, and Hiro had shrieked back at the birds shrieking at him, laughing at the noise…that had been a fun day—he was surprised it had slipped his mind—

Ice cold suddenly slipped back through his veins.

_They couldn't get the memories to stick—the first clone remembered the most, memory fuzzy on the edges, but after that—_

No, no he had looked—

_He's a John Doe—_

Oh no.

He waited—waited until everyone else was asleep, waited until Nox's breathing was even and he wouldn't notice Tadashi slipping away—hurried for his laptop, that he had dumped right by the door and forgotten in his haste to get everyone in and taken care of—

Knew even as he pulled it out that no amount of charging would save it now.

He tried to force himself to ignore the tightness in his chest as he turned the device, watched the water trickle out—he had been a fool to look for his own name, should have looked through the John Does…he could be wrong—it had been an old memory, he had had more pressing thoughts on his mind, really ever since Hiro had graduated high school—

What if he was in such a hurry to get back, only to find that Hiro already had a brother there at home? What if—_what if he really had died in the fire?_

No—no, no, no—he'd _know,_ he'd _know—_

_The gene cleansers wouldn't work on clones._

He'd know for sure when they got to San Fransokyo.

He hadn't realized he'd been sitting there, staring at nothing—he had been winded, grief striking all the air from his lungs—didn't realize someone else was up until 'Kase sat next to him and poked his shoulder.

"Hey," she said. "Grump woke me up—said you were having a crisis."

Grump had—now there was a surprise—he shot a glance at the griffin, looked at 'Kase—realized she had already gone through this.

"I—" he tried—coughed, tried to turn it into a laugh and failed. "I—so it just occurred to me that—that _I_ could be a clone too—and that I'm—I'm killing myself trying to get back…and if I do, and I am…."

She watched him carefully…patted his knee.

"And if you are," she asked. "What are you going to do?"

She had been asking herself the same question, he knew. "I…I don't know. I'm—I'm still going to try to fix this." Look at her. "I'm—I'm sorry—I'm being selfish—"

"Nah," she said. "You're supposed to be like this when your whole worldview goes sideways. Honestly, this is refreshing—I was beginning to worry about you, Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes."

He opened his mouth to respond—shut it quickly to keep a cough in—inwardly panicked when those coughs started trying to turn into sobs.

"Hey—hey it's okay—it's okay, you're supposed to feel like that," she said, putting a wing-arm around him and tugging him close.

"Sorry," he wheezed, trying to keep his volume down. "I'm sorry—"

"No, it's okay—good cry," she told him, resting her beak on his head. "Here—I have a test for you: the way you remember yourself, is that the way you are? Is the way you remember yourself the way you act, or do you have to work at it?"

"I—I don't know—I thought so—"

She hugged him tighter. "Well you listen to me, Tadashi Hamada: the original me? Wouldn't be caught _dead_ doing this—she'd dismiss you right out of hand for being so weak. She would have been grateful to you for letting her out, but she would have wanted some solid reasoning for following you all across creation—she wouldn't have followed you _just_ because you did her a solid. This here, this is me.

"And maybe I _needed_ to know—maybe I needed to know so I could stop being someone I'm not. She wouldn't have dealt with kids, she'd have been the first one to jump ship—I'd catch myself wondering _why_ I was doing this, why I was helping someone like this—and I realized it was because that was something _I'd_ do, not her.

"So you stop worrying—you let go. We won't know for sure until we get to San Fransokyo, right? Then stop—let go of everything—just be yourself and stop worrying. And—and if that means letting go of something you thought was so important, then do it.

"Now you tell me: letting go of it all, what is it that's important to _you?"_

Silence—he didn't _want_ to let go—if he let go and—and—

Deep shuddering breath—let it out, get it all out in a long hiss….

…he had to be sure.

"I…I have to know," he said finally. "I have to at—at least make sure that Hiro and Aunt Cass are all right. I-if they are…if they're all right…then…then maybe I could live with—with whatever."

'Kase slipped away from him, put her hands on either side of his face, made him look her dead in the eye. "And is that what _you_ want? Is that what Tadashi Hamada wants? Separate yourself from him for a minute—is the goal still the same, deep in your heart of hearts?"

Search her eyes—they were dark, maybe a dark blue or green, even though he always expected them to be gold or orange like a hawk's eye—always so sharp and intense, boring straight through him….

"Yes," he said, exhaling deeply. "Yes—I want to know."

She surprised him by resting her forehead against his.

"Then I wouldn't worry, Tadashi Hamada," she said, beak bumping against his nose. "I wouldn't worry one bit."

He nodded, tears still leaking out—she hugged him close again, and after a while he hugged her back, muttering apologies at the saltwater seeping into her feathers—she kept rocking slightly, shushing him every time he apologized.

Eventually he could feel himself slipping away, exhaustion catching up with him and dragging him down—felt himself be gently lowered to the floor, felt her curl up next to him…heard heavy padding after a while, a huff as Grump flopped down behind them….

Eventually slipped into blackness, gone from the world.


	8. Recovery Note

**Chapter 8, everybody! In which bird-people get out of the house before we do. *bricked***

**Tadashi's reasoning behind naming Nox is precisely my own reasoning behind naming Nox—I think there might have been a ****_Harry Potter_**** marathon on at the time, but then again that's every week so…I just know I had the ****_Lumos/Nox_**** pair of spells on the mind. And I'm going to say that three out of the four toddler-type kids are named after singers: Harry Styles, Trisha Yearwood, and Taylor Swift—I know there's got to be a Drew singer somewhere, but their name escapes me. :\**

**Our Moluccan Cockatoo tends to pluck her feathers, so to distract her from that we put scarves and sweaters on her, which she does chew on and which when we started was a whole production. And yeah, I've done that feather thing ever since watching ****_The Rescuers Down Under—_****awesome movie. :D I might have said it before too, but Tadashi's feather patterns are based after one of my roosters—he was a pretty bird. ;-;/ And birds do molt only a few feathers at a time, so Tadashi's fine.**

**And we're never told Honey Lemon's real name (or Gogo's, or Wasabi's), so I went with the fandom and cited her name from the original comic book. It works. *shrug***

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Aaah, glad you like those two! I'm terrible at writing romance, but catch me writing friends/found family all day every day that's my jam. :D Writing that section, I can guarantee gushing, freaking, and hugging. :D And eee thank you—and me too. D:**

**Blyssabella, thanks for the review! I knoooow but I'm glad you're loving it. ;v;/**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

Tadashi came back to wakefulness in fits and spurts, not really wanting to wake up even though his body was telling him that it was currently on the hard floor and not the blankets, this was really a problem that should be addressed.

Eventually he did accept a return to consciousness, only because it wouldn't leave him alone, opened his eyes to find 'Kase curled up next to him, Grump curled up around her. Right. That had happened. Total complete breakdown on Tadashi's part—he was just glad these two were the only ones who had seen it.

He watched her blue feathers go up and down as she breathed—glad she had helped, glad for all the help she had been giving…he was surprised at her, saying that her original wasn't like that. And…he'd do whatever it took to get her back on her feet, when everything was back to normal. He owed her that much.

If normalcy was even waiting for them.

She had told him not to worry, to not give those thoughts weight, but he couldn't help it—couldn't help but worry about whether or not _he_ was really truly the original Tadashi Hamada. With additions, he thought wryly, curling his toes.

What if he wasn't? What would his plan be _then?_

He shifted around a little, trying to wrap his head around that thought—if he wasn't the real Tadashi Hamada…then the gene cleansers wouldn't work on him, and he'd be stuck as a bird-person. There wouldn't be a place waiting for him back home—it wouldn't even be _his_ home. And—and as dour as those thoughts were, he had to give them some weight—because if it came to pass, he'd have to have a plan for what to do after—what to do with these others who'd be stuck as bird-people. It wasn't like they could lobby complaints against Sycorax like this—there wasn't a legal precedent for genetic experiments. And they couldn't go on like this…there had to be something they could do.

If only he could think of it.

Trying to move a little alerted him to the fact that he had someone splayed across his back, knew who it was without looking. "Nox…."

The little bird-boy mumbled and rolled around a little, but otherwise didn't make any attempt to get up. Tadashi groaned, got his arms under himself, pushed up gently until Nox started sliding—hissed when Nox grabbed on, semi-frantic at losing his traction.

"What are you doing, huh?" Tadashi asked quietly, working himself to a sitting position and maneuvering Nox around to his lap, hugging him close. "What are you doing? You should be over there with the others."

"'Dashi," Nox noised, snuggling close and feeling like he was trying to drift back off to sleep. "Dashi-Dashi-Dashi…."

"Yeah," Tadashi muttered, patting Nox's head. "Yeah, it's okay."

No it wasn't—but he had to pull himself out of this morass he was sinking into, had to stay positive for everyone else—he had practice doing so, had had to bury his own grief when their parents died to dig Hiro out of his own—

…If that was even his, and not just a memory layered in.

Poke at it—no…no, if that was a fake memory, it was a thorough one—there was still pain when he thought of their parents, even if the memories were a little hazy on the edges…but that could be from time, and if it was, it made his heart ache.

Gently rubbing his fingers through Nox's hair now, earning a muted sound somewhere between a purr and a _crr_ing noise—it could be he had nothing to worry about. It could be he was getting worked up over nothing.

He wouldn't know until San Fransokyo.

Deep breath—it wasn't worth worrying about until he was there. When—when he was there—if it didn't work—_then_ he'd worry about it. Then he'd check in on his family and make sure they were all right from a distance.

Then he'd figure out his new life.

But right now, there was a solid chance his old life was still there waiting—and he'd rather be plucked and finished roasting in that fire Callaghan set than pass up a chance to get back to it.

Callaghan…why, _why why why_ had he done that?

_He stole the microbots from Hiro, after talking him out of selling them to Krei—I know Hiro, the idea of more money than he'd ever seen in one place was WAY appealing,_ Tadashi thought, scowling. _But for what reason? Was he planning on stealing them then? Why give Hiro the acceptance letter? Why set the fire? Hiro would have let Callaghan borrow the microbots if he gave a good reason—_

_So he didn't have a good reason. Was he—is he after Krei for some reason? Why?_

Callaghan had been talking about how Krei had a habit of cutting corners—had he done such a thing, hurt Callaghan or someone in his family? And if he did….

No. No, that didn't excuse him endangering people's lives—that didn't excuse him trying to _kill_ Tadashi—

_Maybe succeeding—_

No—no that thought was _not_ going to be given any traction until he knew for sure. He had to know for sure _first_.

…Because if he did…and if Tadashi showed up, when there was no Tadashi there….

_Hi, Hiro, I'm the feathery ghost of your dead brother—meet your new ghost-brother, he also has feathers._ Yeah, that'd go over like a lead balloon. Just—no. He'd make sure first, make sure so he didn't—so he didn't hurt his family.

And even if he wasn't a clone…the reason to get to the gene cleansers first still stood.

_Hiro, bloodied and mangled—that woman saying how monsters didn't have families—_

Shook his head a little, careful not to disturb Nox—he was probably overreacting. Hiro'd probably get as far as the wings before the Coolness Factor kicked in and he started begging for a ride. He could hear him now: _one ride, one ride—please, 'Dashi?_ Oh, it'd kill him to say no, but considering how he had to hold Violet when flying, Hiro'd never be able to see anything.

He heard stretching and groaning behind him, didn't lift his head until he felt a hand on his shoulder—looked to see 'Kase. "Hey."

"Hey," she returned. "Feeling better?"

"I'm working on it."

She shrugged, glanced at Nox before looking up at him. "Well…if it _doesn't_ work out, there's always room in the Clone Club—we're still accepting members."

He coughed out a laugh at that, causing Nox to twitch. "Boy I hope you're the president and not Grump."

"Of course he isn't—Grump is in charge of scowling and disapproving of everything."

Grump rumbled behind them but otherwise didn't move.

"See? Does it so well."

Tadashi coughed, nodded, trying not to smile. Look blearily at the windows, pale dawn light starting to seep in….

"What do you say about moving back to the blankets?" he asked finally. "I'm dying on plain wood floors."

She popped a few backbones herself. "Me too—I'm all for at least one more night of comfortable sleeping."

That would be nice.

And, he felt, hearing Grump pad over and flop down on a corner of the blankets, even if the worst should happen…at least he wouldn't be alone.

But that wouldn't stop him from trying to fix things.

_Someone has to help._

* * *

The sun was shining, the clothes felt dry, _they_ felt dry—time to cause themselves some grief.

In sum: trying to get the clothes back _on_ the kids.

Theoretically, it shouldn't be a problem—the clothes wouldn't be tugging and pulling on feathers and causing pain, so they should all be good. In practice, they were once again chasing the kids through the cabin, Grump at one door and 'Kase at the other to prevent them from bolting. And while Tadashi and the others had caught up on their sleep, so had the kids, and they were much more susceptible to cabin fever than the rest of them. They were basically trying to catch little bundles of energy with feathers.

Eventually, though, they _did_ get the kids all dressed up again, and with less screeching this time—which was good, which was very good, Tadashi didn't think his eardrums could handle much more abuse.

But now that the kids were clothed, it was the adults' turn—had to help each other pull the clothes on, because he was pretty certain he had mentioned what an inconvenience tails are and it wasn't like wings were any more convenient when it came to day-to-day stuff—sure the flying was cool, but let's take a minute and discuss getting clothed with big wings in the way. Not fun.

He kept shooting glances at the kids to make sure they weren't trying to tug their clothes back off while the adults were distracted—a couple of them were gnawing on their shirts again, but for the most part they were wound up and chattering and squirming and apparently very uncomfortable with their clothes again. Tadashi had to bite back a laugh at Grump with his head buried under his paws, looked when he felt someone tugging on his wing.

"What, Nox?" he asked, trying to focus on zipping up his hoodie without catching a feather in it—mistakes had been made.

"No! No! No!" Nox squawked, tugging on his sweater as he continued to tug on Tadashi's wing. Webby and Louie picked up on this, bounced in front of him with handfuls of their clothes and chiming _no no no no no—_

"OI!" 'Kase barked, causing them to fall silent. "No one cares, you're not running around naked, _shut up."_

They looked back at Tadashi, eyes pleading.

"What?" Tadashi asked, indicating himself. "See? _I'm_ wearing clothes and _I'm_ fine with it—has anyone seen my hat?"

"I think Drew's chewing on it," Sashi volunteered, trying to keep Trisha and Taylor distracted.

"What? _Drew!_ Oi…."

Drew had been chewing on it, yes, which had made the part right above his left ear wet and slobbery and unpleasant and made the top have a few more holes for ventilation—he put it on anyway, grimacing at the wet touching behind his ear (it didn't matter that said ear was coated in feathers and his head was coated in hair, that one little spot where the two met had the smallest strip of bare skin and it _knew_). At least when it was on his head it wasn't getting chewed on.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning up the cabin and straightening everything back out, at least enough that the people who owned it wouldn't come back to a total moldy mess. Sashi loaded up the little wood rack next to the fireplace and let the fire die down after a final round of oatmeal and coffee (which Tadashi was certain was the sole cause of his now having _more_ feathers), Sue and Beth hung up as much as they could to get drying with the intent of folding everything up in the laundry room, Tadashi and Brittany scrubbing down everything else and straightening it all up as 'Kase and Grump kept track of the kids wanting to get underfoot and still squawking at their clothes.

"So what do you say?" Tadashi asked Nox, sitting next to him and tugging on his sweater (at least he had stopped repeating _no_ about it). "Ready to get moving again?"

Nox warbled and squawked and chirped but otherwise didn't give an answer he could translate.

"Your words, Nox—you gotta use your words."

Nox warbled again and looked elsewhere.

"Oh come on—I know you're excited about flying again."

Nox's attention immediately snapped to him, chittering and chattering and punctuating it all with _Fly! Fly!_ as he pounced on him.

"No—_gaah_—not _yet,_ Nox!"

Nox immediately wailed and rolled off of him, keening as he rolled to his stomach to properly have a tantrum.

_"Tomorrow,_ Nox—you can wait until tomorrow."

No dice—Tadashi stepped around him, dodged Brittany sweeping dirt and fluff and feathers to the back door, checked the cupboards for more dry food—last thing of cereal, might as well. Pour it into the pan, which succeeded in getting Nox to stop crying, getting the other kids to stop bothering the adults, and making Tadashi _very_ popular.

It was after they were down to the nitty-gritty and the sun had nearly set again that Tadashi started rooting around for a pen and paper, found a little notepad usually used for lists and a pencil to go with it. This would do.

Tadashi was glad for the improved night vision, because he had to have sat there for another hour, after most of the noise in the other room had ceased, trying to come up with something to write that would make up for all the food eaten and the mess that had been made. He had a pile of crumpled-up paper that was going in the fireplace when this was over, was still puzzling when he felt someone tugging on his wing feathers again.

"'Dashi. Dashi-Dashi-Dashi-Dashi—"

"Hey, Nox," Tadashi greeted. "Not y—I'm almost done, okay? Go to bed."

Nox warbled and chirped, tried to climb on him even with him sitting in a chair at a table.

"Nox," Tadashi sighed, maneuvering around the kid trying to sit in his lap with him already awkwardly posed in a chair—hug him to his chest to keep him from slipping, hug a little tighter when the familiar feeling and action made his heart ache. "I ever tell you you remind me of my brother Hiro?"

"Hrrrhhh," Nox noised, imitating the hug and looping his arms around Tadashi's shoulders, burrowing his face against Tadashi's collarbone. Tadashi had to sigh, give up writing the missive for tonight, went back to the others and sit on the thinner bed of blankets (so they wouldn't have as much to do tomorrow) after tossing the scrap papers into the fire.

"I think we've known each other long enough," 'Kase muttered, curled up and eyes closed and otherwise not reacting to Tadashi easing down next to her. "What on earth possessed you to name that kid _Nox_? Especially compared to the other names."

"Well…Nox means _night,_ doesn't it?" Tadashi asked, gently spreading some of Nox's wing feathers. "Seems to fit."

"That's what Grump said. And Sashi said you named those poor kids after cartoon show characters."

And Nox was actually Tadashi being a _Harry Potter_ nerd (and was honestly his knee-jerk name pick), but he wasn't about to say that. "And Beth and Sue named four kids after singers—what's his point?"

"Not sure, actually—maybe he wanted to name more than just Mei."

"I'm sure he'll get over it—Sashi? You'll get over it, right?"

"What am I getting over?" Sashi asked blearily.

"Just say yes, Sashi."

Sashi mumbled and sounded like he rolled over.

"That sounded like a yes," Tadashi said, smiling at 'Kase.

She rolled over to search his face. "So you're feeling better?"

"Maybe," he said, smile slipping off his face. "Maybe I was just too busy today to think about it. Maybe I just need to stay busy enough that I don't worry about it until we're there. Maybe I won't worry about it with us travelling again."

"That's a lot of maybes."

"I know," Tadashi sighed, trying to lay down and ease Nox down as well—come on, Nox, get off. "It's just…it's still…I feel like I want to know for sure, but at the same time I'm afraid to."

"Yeah," 'Kase sighed, watching him. "But you'll still have us, if it goes sideways."

"I'll still have you guys anyway," Tadashi said, finally managing to get laid down, facing 'Kase and still with Nox clinging to him—Nox shifted a little so he was curled up against Tadashi's chest. "Someone—"

_"Has to help_—don't you ever get tired of saying that?"

"Nah—it's a good system. Most of the time."

He was actually surprised she managed to stick her tongue out at him with a bird beak, but she pulled it off—tongue was a little paler and pointier than a regular human tongue, he noticed.

"Well I love you too," he coughed, trying to keep from laughing too hard—he was supposed to have a serious and offended air right then, he felt.

"Nah—you're sweet, but I'm too old for you," 'Kase said, rolling onto her back and closing her eyes. _She_ could sleep on her back without a problem.

"I have a girlfriend anyway."

"Oh, this is a new one—what's her name?"

"Aiko—everyone calls her Honey Lemon though. That's Fred's fault."

He told her how Fred had given just about everyone in the labs nicknames—Tadashi wasn't quite certain how he had evaded one for so long, but quietly suspected it'd end up being Birdboy after this—about his friends and about working in the labs on his research project and how Baymax would end up helping a lot of people someday.

"Wow," she said when he finally wound down, feeling sleepy. "And here my biggest goal was—well, it's not _my_ biggest goal."

"What's your biggest goal now?" he murmured. "What's 'Kase's biggest goal?"

"Mmm…honestly, not going back to the labs. Maybe someplace where we don't have to worry about running away or rainstorms. Someplace where I can figure myself out without…you know…fleeing for my life."

"I like that goal."

"Mmm," she noised again, quiet for a long time. "At least you have people waiting for you. I don't—_she_ doesn't have anyone."

"You have someone—you have us."

"You're sweet. You're stupid, but sweet."

"Yeah, but you love it anyway."

"I'll think about it."

Which was about the time Tadashi did slip fully into sleep.

* * *

It felt much too early when he was woken up, even though the sun was streaming through the windows—cup of cold coffee that managed to be even stronger _how_—

Hang up the blankets in the laundry room, Tadashi combing the cupboards for something they could take with them—found a box of trail mix and took the bag, giving the box to Sashi to shred and put in the kindling tub for the fire. Tuck the bag into his hoodie pocket, watch everyone getting organized….

He suddenly had an idea of what to say.

Went back to the abandoned notepad and scribble down what he was thinking before he forgot or was interrupted—finish, read it over.

_Hello:_

_You don't know me and I don't know you, but thank you. You helped out a lot of people when we were tired and cold and hungry—and I know you don't realize it, but you saved a lot of lives._

_I'm sorry for the mess we left and the food we ate, and I wish there was a way we could pay you back somehow. Maybe someday we can. But until then, know that we're all extremely grateful to you._

_Thank you._

He put it down, scratched absently at an itchy spot on his wing, trying to think of something else to say…maybe pithy was best. He just—it was hard to put into words how important this place had ended up being to everyone.

He felt something give, pulled his hand away—caught a feather that had to be about a foot long as it started to fall away. Oh, great, he was molting. Here was hoping it wasn't an all at once thing, because he still kind of needed these feathers.

Consider the one he was holding—it was a rich golden yellow, with warm oranges and paler yellows banding it, deep red and brown splotches scattered up and down it, one pattern over another. It really was pretty plumage, if he did say so himself. Run it along his neck, like on _The Rescuers Down Under_….

Tuck it into the cup on the table along with the pencil.

"Hey!" 'Kase called, holding up his laptop bag. "Are we going or what?"

"Yeah," Tadashi sighed, getting up from the table and putting the cup on the notepad, sparing them one last glance before walking over to her. "We're going."

And hoping that what waited for him there was still good.


	9. Bear Necessities

**Chapter 9, everybody! In other news, I have my Dad reading this now and he tells me it starts with a bang. Good things. :D**

**Back to focus on this—did you ever watch the movie ****_Homeward Bound?_**** Well you should—like ****_Balto_**** with my fic ****_The Frost King,_****_Homeward Bound_**** has been a big source of inspiration for this fic. It also helps that it's a great movie. :D**

**Tadashi feeling better once he's flying can come from two sources: one, making progress. Two: flighted birds have a system where their lungs and wing muscles are attached—the more they flap the more air gets into their lungs, so their oxygen intake keeps up with their activity. Tadashi might just be feeling better because he's getting more oxygen to his brain. ^^**

**That bend between the knee and the foot of a bird leg ****_is_**** called an ankle, although you wouldn't think it. Tadashi's referencing a black heron, which does hunt with its wings mantled to better show the fish. And Brittany and Sashi are discussing accurate terminology in the 21****st**** century.**

**Nox got a pillbug there, which is good food for birds and makes us question bird-people diets. Also bears are bad news they are apex predators that can outrun you easily please do not bother bears. Also, bears are somewhat bulletproof so yeah, STAY AWAY FROM BEARS.**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! EEEEE thank you I love writing Tadashi and the kids. :D And oh good—I agonized over that note like Tadashi did, honestly. Yes! Me too….**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

**Homeward Bound © 1993 Buena Vista Pictures (technically Disney)**

The severity of the cabin fever became quite clear upon getting everyone outside—especially the kids.

"Okay no guys stay still for a minute we need to get everyone situated we probably should have grabbed some kids before getting out Sashi you can carry Drew right?" Tadashi asked, scooping up Della and Violet before they could get airborne.

"Can't I have Mei?" Sashi protested, hustling to stop Drew and Harry—they didn't have enough feathers grown in to get airborne, fortunately, nor did Trisha and Taylor, but that didn't stop them from trying. "Mei's small, she's light—"

"Don't be such a wuss," Brittany said, catching Trisha and putting her on a grumbling Grump. Sue and Beth already had Taylor and Mei, and Tadashi got Della on Grump before the griffin launched into the air, knocking Tadashi and Brittany down with the force of his downstroke.

"_Jerk!"_ Brittany hollered after him.

"Yeah, no fixing that I don't think," Tadashi said, adjusting his hold on Violet as Sashi led Harry and Drew over; Brittany stood, scooped Harry up and launched into the air—extra spite fueling her this time.

"I hate this part," Sashi muttered, picking Drew up and spreading his wings.

"I don't think it's anyone's favorite activity," Tadashi told him, backing up a bit to give him enough room. Sashi took a lot of flapping hard and jumping around before he got airborne, but Tadashi was grateful for the extra air being stirred up—the humidity was thick today.

"You're going to have to cut me some slack," he told Violet, who was busy making dismissive noises at Sashi's progress. "I'm not going to be doing much better." Check the others—Beth and Sue were airborne—now it was just him.

One last long look at the cabin that had sheltered them…he hoped that someday he _could_ make it up to whoever owned it.

His prediction to Violet was right, it took him more than a few tries to get airborne, not helped by Nox continually darting at him or the other kids chasing each other through the air—this was going to take a while and be stressful to boot, but the alternative would be trekking through the mud, and _no one_ wanted _that_. Maybe they'd be lucky and the kids would be tired later.

But once they were airborne…he felt better, chest not as tight, everything lighter—it was progress, they were making progress, they were once again heading home.

He hoped.

Shake his head, pump his wings again, quick head count.

"Okay, anyone need to land at any time, just say something," he called. "I don't want anyone overexerting themselves."

Sashi risked freeing a hand to give him a thumbs-up—'Kase nodded once, angled around, struck off for a northwestern angle. Okay. Okay. Beat down that nervousness—there was no point in worrying about it now.

For now, just focus on the fact that they were heading home.

* * *

As it turned out, a few days of rest and food meant that no one was feeling overly tired throughout the morning—and well into the afternoon. Honestly, the only reason they _did_ land was because they sailed over a scrubby field between forests that had rocks scattered throughout and a wide river creeping sluggishly along the hills. It was a good place to land and take a breather.

Plus, Sashi said something about fish.

'Kase was the one most excited about that prospect, discussing various sushi recipes before reminding herself that they had no rice or anything else for that matter—winged over to a rock to keep an eye on the kids while Sashi cleared a spot in the grass, started a fire with the tinder Brittany brought from the woods.

"So what do you think?" Tadashi asked, keeping an eye on the kids rolling around in the grass. "How far do you think we've gone so far today?"

"I'm thinking we're still in northern California somewhere," Sue said, looking around. "It's not hilly enough to be the Rockies, and it's not dry enough to be southern California."

"Not nearly," Brittany said, mounding some dirt around the fire.

"We'll cross a highway or come across a town eventually," Beth assured them, showing Trisha and Drew how to braid grass together. "We'll figure out where we are then."

Tadashi nodded as Brittany moved around him, heading for where Sashi was trying to catch something. The sun was warm, the sky was clear…if they kept heading west they'd hit the coast eventually, could figure out things from there.

"In the meantime, no playing in the dirt," Sue said, picking Mei up. "You'll get yourself dirty." When Mei squawked a protest: "You don't like being dirty, remember? And Harry, leave that alone, that's for the fire."

Tadashi turned Harry around and nudged him away from the fire. "Trust me, you don't want to be messing around with fire, okay?"

Beth and Sue both glanced at Tadashi's arms at that, eyes flicking up to his face—yes, he knew, the burn scars were obvious and angry and all over his upper body. None on his legs, but then again his legs had been decidedly human when Callaghan tried to toast him like a marshmallow _dontthinkaboutit—_

Clear his throat, desperate to change the subject. "I am going to go…see how fishing is going. Yeah."

The hair on the back of his neck was prickling as he went over to the river—he knew they probably had questions on how he ended up looking like a hot dog dropped in the fire, but he wasn't up to answering any probing questions just yet. _Yeah, well, my favorite professor stole my brother's invention, set a fire to cover his tracks, and then tried to kill me when I went running in to save him. How's that for gratitude, huh?_ Yeah—same reason he wasn't bringing cloning up _donththinkaboutit—_

He cleared his throat once he was next to Brittany. "So," he said, arms crossed tight against his unpleasant thoughts. "We're having a raffle going, trying to guess how far we've gone so far—winner gets my aunt's famous fish poke."

"Please don't talk to me about fish right now," Brittany muttered, fists propping her head up as she sat on a rock—probably frustrated at that too, Tadashi knew it was a problematic perch. "Or food—ugh, I'd take a Denny's at 3AM right about now."

"You don't mean that."

"I'm getting desperate."

"Well, hopefully once we get that going we can get something edible going as well," Tadashi said, indicating the fire that Sashi had started and Sue and Beth were tending. "How's fishing going?"

"I think Sashi's being an idiot and that Grump is having more luck than we are," Brittany said, pointing at Grump, sitting several feet away and gnawing on something. Tadashi spared him a glance before redirecting his attention to Sashi.

"Sashi, what are you even doing?"

"Okay, so my stepdad learned this from an old Indian and you're supposed to be able to catch fish like this," Sashi murmured, up to his…it wasn't his knees and most certainly wasn't ankles, whatever you called that bend in a bird leg between the knee and the foot—up to that in the water with his tail lifted up, running his hand over the surface.

"So when you say _Indian,_ do you mean India-Indian or Native American Indian?" Brittany asked, adjusting her position on the big rock she was sitting on.

Sashi's wings ruffled in agitation and his tail flicked, so Tadashi was guessing if his hands were free he would have waved Brittany off. "Native American. Now hush, you're scaring the fish."

"Am I really the one doing that though?" Brittany murmured to Tadashi.

"Maybe you should try that 'nighttime-daytime' thing like on YouTube," Tadashi said. "And where's Huey? I'd have thought he'd be here watching you." Look around, spot 'Kase, work over to her. "Where's the kids?"

"Right there," she said, indicating the lot of them playing around a slightly lower section of field in these rolling hillocks. Tadashi did a quick headcount—

"Wait," he said, stomach plummeting. "Where's—"

Squawking and whistling redirected their attention to Louie and Huey, jumping up and down, waving and flapping their wings and arms and looking excited.

"Now what do you think got into them?" 'Kase asked.

"I don't know," Tadashi sighed. "But we'd better find out."

* * *

Dewey sucked in a short whistle when the olders fell for the ruse, chittered and rushed to help Webby heave up the _rock_ and flip it over—they only had a scant few moments, the olders wouldn't leave them out of sight for long—

Everyone crowded in, scrambling to get one of the crawlies or wrigglies before they fled—Nox managed to get a grip on one, chirped in surprise when he stopped feeling little tiny feet but didn't feel _wet_—opened his hand and chirped more _surprise_ and _hey hey look look at this look_ because the crawly he had picked up was now a round little ball—

Violet plucked it out of his hand and stuffed it in her mouth before he could react, reported that despite being round it was still _crunchy-outside-wet-inside_—and by then there were no more crawlies or wrigglies and Webby and Lena were busy flipping the rock back into place before the olders noticed—

Dewey plopped down on the rock just as Huey and Louie came back, 'Dashi behind them.

"Okay, what are you all doing?" 'Dashi demanded in his _I suspect you-you wrong-what did you do_ tone. "You're all acting too suspicious."

They all quickly chattered innocence and _did-nothing_ and _nice-good-nice-behave-good_ because if 'Dashi believed otherwise then it would be _time-out_ and _no one_ wanted _time-out_—

'Dashi didn't seem convinced, but let them go back to their play, going back up the _hill_ to see how the olders were doing—Louie immediately questioned them on how it had worked, it had been his trick-idea Louie always had the best trick-ideas—

They were quick to let him know that it had succeeded, Nox squawking at Violet for stealing his round-used-to-be-crawly (Huey was very interested to hear more), Violet squawking at Nox for hesitating on _strange_ when it was _obviously_ food since it smelled like food—

Several quickly chittered that it had to be done again, Dewey and Webby popping up to volunteer to be _distracting_ this time—they bounded away as the others fanned out for a new _rock_ to look under, finding one that looked promising and collecting there with short _shh-quiet_ chirps—Nox lay flat next to Lena, who eased up, looking—short whistle to Dewey and Webby.

Nox, meanwhile, was busy watching 'Dashi, who had been busy watching them—he and 'Kase looked over at Dewey and Webby—Nox pricked his ears when 'Dashi said something to 'Kase—

He could tell, even before 'Dashi got up but 'Kase didn't—'Dashi's body tone had a lot of _I suspect-trick-you watch_—they wouldn't get away with this a second time, which was bad because there were lots of crawlies and wrigglies under rocks and they tasted good and made the gnawing hunger less but 'Dashi was good 'Dashi would come up with something—

Lena whistled a short, aggravated sigh, flopped down next to Nox and did her best Grump-impression, sulking at the fact that their trick had failed. Nox chirped at her, nudged with a wing—one trick had failed but there were more this place had lots of new smells and probably had lots of hidden _food_ like _forest_ had—Lena nudged back, growling and grumbling that she wanted to sulk stop it.

He should, he really should, especially with her expression crumpled up and ears flat, but he was in too good a mood—it was warm and this place was nice and the sky was nice and sunny and bright blue with fluffy not-rain clouds that he wanted to fly up to despite not being able to power high enough (_yet_, he told himself)—he rolled over on his side and started pawing and kicking at her, just light enough to be annoying, giggling in counterbalance to her irritated squawks—

She jumped up and tackled him, rolling them both—Nox shrieked in surprise and _fun_ and renewed his efforts, claws catching in her _clothes_ and wings tucked in tight so as to not injure them—both of them shrieking in surprise when the _hill_ meant they rolled farther, others squawking and chittering and bounding after them—'Dashi was yelling something but Nox didn't hear, there were other things to focus on like _winning_.

Lena was out of her Grump-mood and wanting to play too—wanting to _win_—tugged on his ear, wings spread wide and intimidating—she had landed on top, him flailing underneath her, hands grabbing her arm and feet pressed against her stomach to get her off of him, trying to keep her away—she was poking him with her free paw, everywhere she knew it tickled _stop it_—the others were bouncing around, shouting encouragement and suggestions—Della was suggesting biting but Nox knew he couldn't do much with just his teeth he didn't have a beak like the others—

Sometimes that bothered him—that he looked different than the others, no feathers on his face or a beak—other times it was just a thing that was, that maybe wouldn't always be because Mei and Trisha and Taylor and Harry and Drew were still growing in _their_ feathers—

Violet sniffed at the air, squawked—

Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing, sat up quickly—Violet had smelled something that smelled like _FOOD_.

Nox glanced back at 'Dashi—he was a little further down the hill and watching them still—that was good that meant _safe_ 'Dashi meant_ safe_ and he was still talking to 'Kase so that meant they had some time—snapped his attention back to the others, following Violet's lead and stalking _shh-quiet_ through the tall grass, sniffing and snuffling—Nox tried scenting the air, mouth open for the extra taste—it tasted _crisp_ and _clean_ and like nearby water and nearby cool-tree-forest-shade, but that was to be expected some of the others had better senses of smell than he did and Mei had the best hearing of them all but Nox was no slouch either he could hear things too before most of the others did and while most of the time he was happy following along with the others sometimes he would come up with tricks and new ideas that worked out pretty fine, he thought.

Like right now he was happy with following the others, sneaking through the tall grass and being _shh-quiet_, ears pricked back to listen for 'Dashi, who was _good-safe-older brother-safe_ and sounded like he was just watching for now, pricked back forward at interested burbles coming out of the others when they caught wind of what Violet had scented—Nox tested the air again, smelled something _wet_ with a strong scent that smelled like _food_—

And something else, something else that was making grumbly noises and squeaks—

He pushed himself up a little, ears pricked, peering over the tall grass waving everywhere—the others were doing the same, Huey quietly chittering _confusion_.

Nox felt the same way—the _things_ in front of them were about their size, round like the big _rocks_, and super-shaggy, like Grump but more so. Heads were wrong, not-beaks not-_faces,_ little round ears on top of their big blunt heads—they looked like less-coordinated, more-ugly Grumps without wings or tails.

Lena wanted to know what they were, _without_ getting closer she added—Dewey made a muted squawk of _disappointment _at that—wanted to know where _food_ was because _that_ wasn't _food_.

Nox glanced around—the tall grass wasn't tall closer to the things, seemed to peter out to scrubbly ground—ah, but there was a big _rock_ that he pointed out to the others, closer to the things—they could sneak up close behind the rock and then climb up on the rock to peer over and closer.

Quick debate—Nox ended up going to the rock as several of the others snuck closer through the grass (Della grumbling because she couldn't sneak close as well with _broken_-leg). Nox treated getting to the rock like stalking one of the others, careful-_shh_-quiet steps using all four paws, keeping his tail low above the ground, ears pricked and twitching, claws sinking into the ground, wings loosening to get ready for _pounce_—

His claws scraped strangely on the rock, making the base of his claws ache at the pull but at the same time the way the tips scraped made him think _bark_ and that he should _scratch_—later. Right now he had to be _shh-quiet_ and stealthy, keeping his body pressed close to the rock, flattening his ears so they didn't poke up and give him away, wings spread a little to give the impression of being part of the rock, darker feathers blending in with the rock better than they had been with the grass.

He had a better view of the things, yes, but that didn't make them any clearer or easier to understand—sniff—there was a smell mixed in with the _food_-smell, and the things were busy rooting at something, but he didn't think the things were the source of the food-smell.

He glanced at the others, most of them blending in well with their paler feathers—Huey, Dewey, and Louie would have been lost in the grass if it weren't for their _clothes_—quiet whistle at Violet to come up here and confirm. Violet slipped around, crawled up—he lifted a wing a little so she could crawl under, purple feathers not blending in as well as dark ones.

It felt nice, having someone else tucked up under your wing, and he had to lock his muscles to keep his wing spread and hidden instead of curling up and tugging Violet close. Violet's ears tickled the leading edge of his wing when she poked her head out to see and look and sniff and hear—

Violet confirmed that the things were not the source of the smell, whatever they were rooting at was, and the longer Nox sat with food-smell wafting around the hungrier he got—chittered at the others, trying to come up with a plan—where did the things get _food?_

Louie came up with a trick—a _distracting_ trick—instead of finding out where the things had gotten _food_, they would just separate the things from _food_.

This seemed like a plan—Nox and Violet stayed plastered to the rock, watching the things carefully, Violet snuggled close against Nox's side (it was getting very hard to keep his wing straight and flat against the rock) as the others stealthily _shh-quiet_ snuck around the things, making sure to leave an opening to the forest so the things had a place to run away—Nox had spotted sharp claws on the things and reported them.

Huey whistled _in place-go_—Nox and Violet immediate sat up, claws gripping the rock, wings spread and squawking. The things looked up, startled—

Webby and Dewey and Lena rushed them, Della in the back and squawking and shrieking and flapping—the things fell back, Huey and Louie rushed them on the other side—

The things went scurrying away, leaving whatever they were rooting at behind.

There was lots of cheering, Nox adding his voice as he and Violet jumped off the rock and bounded over to see what they got—Huey was already picking one thing up, whistling _confusion_ as Lena picked up the other thing.

Now there was chittering and squawking as they discussed whether or not this _food_ was good to eat, since the things had already eaten a lot of it, leaving things that looked hard and mouth-hurting—Lena turned hers over at Violet squawking about hesitating on _strange—_

'Dashi hollered, making them all look up—

A new thing like the ones they had chased off had come out of the forest and was standing, much bigger than the things had been, much scarier, mouth open and roaring—

_Panic_—everyone scattering—Nox grabbed Violet, thinking _protect-flee-RUN_—fear making his muscles lock and a scream come out—

'Dashi was suddenly _right there,_ wings spread and claws out, yelling and trying to be as big and loud as he could—Grump flashing on the other side, snarling and swiping—

Claws hooked under his arms, hauled him and Violet up, chucked him back the way they had come—'Kase was quickly onto Della, picking her up and tucking her under a wing—

'Dashi scooped Nox and Violet up, abandoning the fight and yelling _run-flee-run—_the others were already airborne, circling around and squawking _panic_—the olders were still at the top of the hill, confusion switching to _panic_—

Nox hooked his claws in 'Dashi's _hoodie_, feeling Violet do the same—spotted 'Kase handing off Della to Grump before both jumped into the air—felt 'Dashi pumping his wings and working his legs—usually he only had one clinging to him but Nox couldn't bring himself to let go there was _panic_ and _scary_ and 'Dashi was _safe-good-safe-older brother-safe_ 'Dashi would protect them from the big scary thing—

They were in the air, the ground dropping away and the familiar plummeting feeling in his stomach—they were safe in the air, he knew this like he knew 'Dashi was _safe-good-older brother-safe_—circling, 'Dashi yelling for the others, flying away—he could feel _panic_ thrumming through 'Dashi thrumming through Violet thrumming through himself but 'Dashi was good 'Dashi was safe 'Dashi wouldn't let anything happen they were _fine-okay-good_ now.

Several wingbeats later, Violet informed Nox that _this_ was why you didn't hesitate on _strange_ when _food_ was involved.


	10. Apologies

**Chapter 10, everybody, and happy Cinco de Mayo! We're in the double-digits now YES! :D**

**And in the ongoing saga of my Dad reading this: he finds it interesting, and is curious to know how everyone got turned into chickens. XD**

**We learn a little bit more about Sashi this chapter—doomsday preppers basically prepare for any form of societal and/or economic collapse, and I was first introduced to the concept by the characters from ****_Tremors_**** (you know, "YOU BROKE INTO THE WRONG REC-ROOM, NOW DIDN'TJA!?"). Learned more about the lifestyle in recent times, and it's something I want to explore more for writing purposes (and because it does intrigue me). His parents' divorce is kind of based on the grandparents in ****_Baby Daddy_****—good show, you should watch it. 'Kase quotes Sassy from ****_Homeward Bound_**** after the bear incident, by the way—couldn't resist. XD And gray hairs can be caused by stress, unfortunately.**

**And canon-Violet ****_would_**** actually be interested in learning a new language, but when I first wrote this I had only watched bits and pieces of Season 2 so I didn't have a full grasp on her canon character. ^^;**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Glad you like the OCs, I wasn't sure how they'd be taken so glad you like them! :D And yes—NO ONE TOUCHES THE BABIES. O^O Tadashi does, he really does. :)**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

**Homeward Bound © 1993 Buena Vista Pictures (technically Disney)**

"I'm sorry, man."

"Look—Sashi—for the last time, that wasn't your fault, okay?" Tadashi asked, rubbing his face. They were in a clearing in the woods, hopefully out of that bear's range—a bear, a stupid bear with cubs, and the kids _had_ to antagonize it. "We didn't know they were even there, okay?"

Beth patted Sashi on the back. "And besides, at least we found out during the day, instead of late at night—_I_ wouldn't have wanted to wake up to that, would you?"

Sashi actually looked _more_ miserable. "No," he sighed. "But that's one of the first things my stepdad taught me to look out for when we went camping—said it was easier to avoid bears than try to work around them."

"And now we're avoiding them," Tadashi assured him, gesturing one-handed as best he could with two kids in his lap—Nox and Violet had not let go of him at all.

"Which sounds like the smart idea," 'Kase said, poking the new fire Sashi had made—he had had just enough time when Tadashi had said something about bear cubs to throw sand on the other one. "That bear could have eaten you guys. Do you have any idea how painful that would have been? For the bear?"

"Your concern is greatly touching," Tadashi told her, about the same time Grump rumbled something.

"Wow, that was in stereo."

"Finally we agree on something," Tadashi told Grump.

"So none of us were expecting bears," Beth insisted. "You're fine, Sashi."

Sashi sighed again, and Tadashi suspected they were just going to have to let the emotion peter out—Sashi felt he needed to flog himself for the near-death-experience they had just had. It wasn't right, but Tadashi could get it.

Brittany seemed to think so too.

"Tell us about your stepdad," she said, arms around her knees and feet shuffling a little. "He seems to know a lot about the outdoors."

Sashi's ears flicked. "Yeah—so uh, Dad r-ran off…with…well, California, twenty-first century, doesn't matter. And Mom…she starts dating again, and she meets this guy—I'm maybe I don't know, seven, eight—still sore about Dad up and leaving, not sure about this new guy….

"And then he knocks on my door one morning, asks me to come outside with him—I go, and he starts pointing out all the different plants and what they are—we spend like an hour on the dandelions in the yard, and he's telling me all about how every part of the plant has a use…Dad hated them, so it was interesting to me to learn how useful the weeds I had to pull out of the yard on weekends were, especially with the idea that I didn't have to pull 'em anymore. And then he asks if I wanted to go camping sometime.

"So as it turns out Mom married a prepper—you know, those guys who plan for the end of society and all that?" Sashi asked, glancing at them all.

"Sounds like back in the fifties," Beth said. "Does he have a bunker?"

"Up in Montana—we spent a summer up there looking at properties and going over the pros and cons—learned about the sort of wildlife you're supposed to avoid, like—well…."

"Bears?" Tadashi guessed; when Sashi nodded: "Do you want us to let you sulk in peace?"

"Yeah, actually, that'd be nice."

"Finish telling us about your stepdad first," Sue told him.

"So he starts taking me camping…got me into the Junior Woodchucks since it allowed for him to come with—he said he didn't trust the Boy Scouts, too much money went to administration. I get all the badges, we move up to prepper camps, learning skills that'd be useful in the event of total economic or societal collapse, have big group discussions on climate change or the possibility of nuclear winter and what we'd do if that happened, how best to pack GOOD bags—that's 'Get-Out-Of-Dodge' bags—escape routes from cities if an EMP took all power or something like that…we were actually planning a hike from our place to the Montana place, time ourselves and pick out where the best places to rest were," Sashi said, startling to chuckle a little as he leaned back. "This is either great practice or major cheating—pretty sure we won't be flying any."

"How much do one of those backpacks weigh?" Brittany asked suddenly. "The GOOD bags, I mean."

"Uhh? I don't know, twenty-five, fifty pounds? It's like lugging a sack of potatoes."

She pointed at Drew. "You shouldn't be whining about carrying him around then."

Sashi made a face at Tadashi, who shrugged apologetically.

"He would like you guys, though," Sashi muttered, poking at the fire. "Be thrilled to death at people with maybe zero prep-training doing great roughing it—would _love_ you," he added, glancing at Tadashi. "We'd drive home from prep meetings and he'd go on about how it's all well and good knowing how to darn your own socks, but you need someone with good leadership skills who could organize everyone into a working community if they were supposed to survive for more than a year."

"Don't let him be too impressed," Tadashi told him. "I haven't slept good in two months and I'm pretty sure I'm one more panic attack away from complete nervous wreck and nothing but gray hair."

"Gray hair is one of the lesser-known secrets to success," Beth said. "Look at me—do you think older people get gray hair _naturally?"_

"That _was_ the story I was told."

"Good. This is information that doesn't need to get around."

Tadashi coughed a laugh, tried to shift around a little and find a better sitting position, poked Nox and Violet. "You guys mind getting up?"

"No," Violet muttered, face still buried in his hoodie. There was more muttering, in squawks and chirps, and then he was pretty sure she had fallen asleep.

"Back pain is caused by child-rearing, isn't it?" Tadashi asked Beth.

"Congratulations," she said, giving a dandelion leaf to Mei. "You might actually be ready to adult."

"_Yes_," Tadashi mock-cheered, freeing up an arm to pump.

"So someone actually _does_ tell us?" Sashi asked. "There's an actual physical step we hit where we're considered _actual_ adults and not just _you're over eighteen welcome to taxes?"_

"Yes," Brittany said with conviction, picking Drew up and handing him to Sashi. "You can start training by carrying a sack of potatoes with wings."

Sashi's expression was laughable enough to finally relax enough for some sleep.

And even better, Tadashi thought—they were closer. Progress was being made.

_Just a little bit longer, Hiro_, he thought, scanning the dark woods. _I'll only be a little longer, okay? Just wait for me, please._

_I'll be home before you know it._

* * *

"Okay, say my name—is my name _Tadashi?"_

"'Dashi. Dashi-Dashi-Dashi—"

"Thank you, Nox," Tadashi said, glancing at the bird-boy jumping around him and trying to get his attention. "But this is Lena's turn. Lena, can you say _Tadashi?"_

Lena looked bored, yawned—on the list of kids that seemed excited to learn how to talk, Webby and Huey topping the list, Lena hovered around the bottom with Violet and Louie. Even _Mei_ seemed more interested in learning English, and by his best estimation, she was somewhere around _three._

"Come on, Lena," Tadashi cajoled, trying to direct her wandering attention back to him. "It's three syllables, and then I'll let you go on your merry way. _Ta-da-shi. Tadashi._ You can do it."

"Thh-dhh-shiii," Lena noised finally.

"I'll take it—oh no you don't," he said, catching her before she could get up and bound away. "Ah-HA! Now what? Gasp, _there is no escape."_

Lena squealed as he stood, turning her upside down and holding her tight by her waist, one arm supporting her shoulders and pinning her wings (those hurt when she flailed them, from experience), careful of her claws (which also hurt, from experience). Flip her up, blow a raspberry on her exposed belly (which required mostly blowing air, since there were feathers there too), got another sharp squeal for his trouble—it was the sort of thing he used to do when Hiro was little to drive him nuts, but he always seemed to enjoy it.

Indeed, Lena was giggling too, wrapping her arms around Tadashi's neck and snuggling close. Nox made several aggravated squawks, prompting Lena to flip backwards—Tadashi had to move to catch her, nearly stumbled—and say _something_ that _really_ got Nox riled up.

"What did you do?" Tadashi demanded of Lena, trying to get Nox to wind down from his tantrum—it wasn't the _plaster himself against the ground_ kind, more the _I want to ruin the hearing of everyone within a hundred miles_ kind while tugging on Tadashi's hoodie, punctuating the screams and shrieks with _no-no-no_—"Nox, _please!"_

"_My 'Dashi!"_ Nox screamed at Lena, who shrieked back.

_"ALL RIGHT THAT'S IT! TIME-OUT, BOTH OF YOU!"_

_That_ prompted a lot of _no-no-no sorry-sorry no_ from the both of them, but Tadashi had to stick with it, they had to learn how to behave, and having to sit for his best estimation of five minutes seemed to be the best punishment for hyperactive bird-kids. At least he knew that Lena knew two words for sure.

"Having fun?" 'Kase asked after a few moments, snickering.

"I'm sorry, what?" Tadashi asked. "I can't hear you after being at ground zero for a noise explosion. What _was_ that, even?"

"Well, from what I heard—and understand these are never direct translations—what started it was basically Lena saying _my 'Dashi now, not yours."_

"That is literally the dumbest thing to start a fight over," he told the two kids.

"How's it feel to be in such high demand?"

"I'd feel better if I could hear."

"Hmm?"

"You're not funny," he groused, shoving at her shoulder. She laughed, got up and walked away. "And you two—_no,_ you're not done with your time-outs yet, you've got to learn to behave yourselves, this is why we're covering English, you can't just scream and get what you want."

"What if they decide to scream for the manager?" 'Kase asked.

"Grump, go sit on 'Kase for me, please?"

Grump rolled over and continued to ignore everyone.

"Wow," 'Kase said drily, looking at the griffin. "I feel so threatened."

That _did_ prompt Grump to roll upright and lumber over, and 'Kase spent the rest of the time-out and about an hour afterwards sitting up in a tree to avoid being squashed. Tadashi, meanwhile, made Lena and Nox say _sorry_ to each other after the time-out, although he didn't think either one of them gave the comment much weight, considering they snubbed each other for most of the rest of the day.

That changed the next afternoon—he had been trying to get Louie to say something with limited success, caught sight of Nox and Lena ducking and shuffling closer while still pretending to ignore each other. Lena pulled a rock out of her pocket, nudged it over; Nox glanced down, took it, pocketed it, pulled out a different rock to nudge over to her. She accepted it, completing the baffling activity, and then they both went on their way.

"I have no idea what that was," Tadashi muttered, looking back at—_"Louie!"_

His next several minutes were spent running down the little bird-kid in the light-green hoodie, who had taken his lapse in attention as a signal to take off.

"Not as easy as it looks, is it?" Beth asked when he came back, Louie tucked under one arm and screaming and flailing.

"Teach me your ways, I beg of you," Tadashi sighed, sitting down heavily next to her and plopping Louie down between them. "And you—you're looking at a time-out for running off like that mister."

"Is that really necessary?" Beth asked over Louie's _no-no-no sorry no_'s. "He probably figured you were done."

"Probably, but I kind of want like five minutes of peace and quiet," Tadashi said.

"I don't think you're getting it."

"I know," Tadashi sighed, rubbing his face. Oi. "Louie, stop strangling yourself, you're not dying."

Louie proceeded to flop down and have a tantrum, fortunately of the _scream into the ground_ variety—at least that kind was somewhat muted.

"'Dashi." Poke to his side, prompting him to look up—Nox sitting there, holding up a pinecone. "Dashi-Dashi-Dashi."

"Yes that's a very impressive—_don't put that in your mouth,"_ Tadashi said quickly, having to stop Nox from once again trying to eat something that wouldn't digest well. Manage to tug him close, hook him under one arm while pulling the pinecone from his grasp with his other hand. "We need to have a serious discussion about what you can and can't eat."

"He's at that stage, he'll grow out of it," Beth assured him, playing peek-a-boo with Mei.

"Boy I hope so," Tadashi sighed, before turning his attention back to Nox.

"_This_ is _not food,"_ he stressed, showing Nox the pinecone. "Okay? This doesn't go in your mouth, okay?"

"Okay?" Nox echoed, squirming around a little. "Okay okay?"

"I'll take it," Tadashi said, giving Nox the pinecone back and watching him carefully. Nox considered him, put the pinecone back in his mouth. _"Nox!"_

Judging by the giggling, Nox was expecting that reaction. At least he pulled the pinecone back out and tucked it in a fold of his sweater (Sue had had to do a _lot_ of tucking to get it to be anything but a baggy mess on Nox).

"Not funny," Tadashi told him, trying to maintain a serious face. "So is everything all right with you and Lena now?"

"Yes," Nox said, alongside a lot of chirps and whistles, picking up another pinecone and turning it over in his hands. "Yes-yes my 'Dashi—" whistles and warbles—"Dashi-Dashi-Dashi—" more chirps and warbles and the end result of someone who knew maybe five words trying to carry on a conversation.

"You have to share, Nox," Tadashi informed him. "You can't get stupid-jealous every time someone else interacts with me."

"'Dashi," Nox insisted, tugging on a handful of hoodie. More warbles and squawks—

"Okay, we're seriously going to have to expand your vocabulary."

"Talking like you're doing helps," Beth said. "They're definitely smart kids."

"I'm not going to deny that," Tadashi said, looking at her—and then noting the discrepancy in the space between them. _"LOUIE!"_ Look back around—"NOX! I don't believe it—I've been had."

"Definitely smart kids," Beth said, trying very hard to smother her laughter.

* * *

Nox bounded around in the clearing, cheering at his success his trick had _worked_ it had worked he had done exactly what he wanted and gotten what he wanted and now they could go back to playing Louie be grateful already—

Louie was grumbling and complaining, more so when Nox bowled him over in an attempt to get him playing, insisting that he _hated words_ and it was stupid learning them _WHY was he being punished Huey stop punishing him more by saying how good words were—_

Nox gave up on Louie, since he was busy playing Grump—bounded on to the next Webby was always good for _play_ warble and chirp _play-play-play Webby-Webby-Webby good trick on 'Dashi worked-worked-worked—_

Webby gave a happy shriek of _yes-challenge-yes_, flared her wings before rolling onto her back, all four paws ready with claws bared—Nox amended his planned jump, went _bound-bound-bound_ around her, dodging close and going _swipe_ and missing on purpose to get her to roll back up so he could tackle her better Webby was the best at play-fights but maybe someone else would jump in and they could team up—

Someone did jump in, just not on Nox's side.

Nox squealed in alarm at being squashed, flailed, screamed in frustration when he realized it was Lena—_no not the poking—_

Try to flail out from under her, screaming and squawking this wasn't fair after he had been nice too he _liked_ that rock—try whipping his tail up, that was one of Webby's tricks but Lena was keeping his from connecting with her own swinging tail and not letting up squawking that Nox was greedy _no-no-no my 'Dashi too—_

Someone tackled Lena off of him—Nox got up, saw that Webby had done so right before she barreled into him, bowling him over and shrieking _challenge_—

What followed was a three-way not-quite-play-fight, no scratching or biting or hard hitting because then the olders would notice and that would mean _time-outs_, but with more backing it than the usual play-fights—Nox and Lena both tried to team up with Webby against the third before it became abundantly clear that Webby meant to fight both of them at once, and despite _apologizing_ with _words_ and their own way, they were still mad-angry-mad-frustrated at each other enough that they didn't want to help—really, Nox had only apologized earlier because he was bored and Lena came up with good play-ideas.

Maybe he should only apologize when he meant it, he decided, tucking his head and wings in as Webby bowled him over again.

Eventually though the fight stopped, mostly from sheer _woo-tired-exhaustion_—Webby was still standing, cheered _win_ before collapsing as well.

A few long moments of heaving deep breaths—finding 'Dashi and curling up on him was suddenly a very appealing idea 'Dashi would have forgotten the trick by now he thought—Webby started talking, telling them both that they were being silly and mean 'Dashi was for everyone 'Dashi was for the whole flock the whole flight 'Dashi was _good_ and _safe_ and _older-brother_ and _safe_ and wasn't just for _one_ and acting like he was had made 'Dashi upset and had made Lena and Nox upset and they had wasted good pretty rocks on _apologizing_ they hadn't meant they were really being very silly and dumb being mean to each other was _no fun no fun_ and was a waste so quit it just because 'Dashi spent time with one didn't mean he hated the rest—even though Louie insisted that 'Dashi spending time with _him_ meant he hated him because _words bleh_—

Nox quietly whistled _sorry_-_sorry for real-sorry_ to Lena—she considered, whistled _sorry for real-sorry_ back—hesitated before asking if he wanted his _sorry_-rock back.

Nox considered it—it was really a pretty rock and he loved it…finally told her _no_ it was a _sorry-_rock that meant she kept it.

Lena waited a few moments before pointing out that Nox should offer to give _her_ her _sorry-_rock back, to which he replied that since it was a _sorry_-rock it was _his_ now—jumped up and ran for 'Dashi, shrieking in alarm and _fun_ as Lena ran after him, calling him names with no real venom to them—

"Oh no what did you do _now?"_ 'Dashi demanded, spotting them barreling for him—squawked in alarm when Nox ran into him, bowling him over, burrowing close and clinging on tight going _Dashi-Dashi-Dashi—_Lena hit scant seconds later, burrowing close and clinging on tight and going _my 'Dashi mine—_Nox squawked at her with no venom, hugged close as 'Dashi tried to get up, managed to get leaning against a big rock Nox could never understand leaning against rocks and sleeping upright like 'Dashi did sometimes it never seemed comfortable but this was 'Dashi 'Dashi was good and safe and older-brother and safe and falling asleep on him was the best place to fall asleep because he was good and safe—

"Well," 'Dashi said, sounding _woo-tired_ as he settled down. "Good to see you two getting along again."

They both chittered that they were never getting along again never ever ever, eyeing each other with expressions of _obviously lying to make you squawk_. Neither one of them was going to break, though—this was more _fun-trick-fun-_type of talking, where what you said was not-quite-true and so obviously so that it was silly.

Violet snuggled in between them, making 'Dashi groan—Violet had wanted to sleep on 'Dashi ever since the _bear_, the _bear_ had been bad-bad-no good-bad and they were all glad it was far away 'Dashi was good 'Dashi kept them safe—

Lena spread a wing, draped it over Violet and Nox, folding it a little to tug them close, comfort of someone else under your wing—Nox reached over Violet, found Lena's arm, hooked his hand there, claws prinkling her _clothes_ a little. Lena warbled a little, already almost-asleep…all of them almost-asleep almost….

"Good kids," he heard 'Dashi mutter.

And then sleep.


	11. Scratching the Surface

**Chapter 11, everybody! I like this number.**

**Minor warning this chapter for some gore in Tadashi's dream sequence (and a reference to the animated ****_Alice in Wonderland_****, although that doesn't require a warning).**

**Violet's difficulties with walking are actually based on real hummingbirds, whose legs are designed for perching only. Her other difficulties can be attested to not being on the high-sugar diet that hummingbirds are supposed to be on. Send Twinkies.**

**"****I'll try to be chewy" is a line that comes from the ****_Dharma and Greg_**** episode "Brought to You in DharmaVision." Love that show—and it's set in San Francisco…wonder if there's a San Fransokyo-version….Nox is more interested in grooming though, since that's something our parrots do. Birds also wear down their nails through perching and/or scratching to forage, although some domestic birds do need to get their nails filed down on occasion (we tell our parrots this is a pedicure). Clawing like the kids do is more cat behavior though—which, to be fair, they're also based on.**

**And the choice of ABBA comes from Mom listening to their music while I was writing one day. Sorry Sashi, I like their music too. ^^**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Yes! Poor 'Dashi, having to be the voice of reason and getting no peace (although he probably has plenty of experience thanks to Hiro). Me too….**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

**The Lorax © Dr. Seuss**

**Legend of Zelda © Nintendo**

"Okay, let's try going over some words. Say my name—is my name _Tadashi?"_

"'Dashi," Nox said immediately. "Dashi-Dashi-Dashi—"

"Thank you Nox, but I was asking Violet," Tadashi told him, glancing at Nox before refocusing his attention on Violet. Nox took this as an invitation to crawl onto his back.

Violet, meanwhile, didn't seem inclined to say anything, made a little _fwee_ noise instead.

"Very nice," Tadashi said. "What about saying _Tadashi?_ Can that be a thing? Three syllables—_tah-dah-shi."_

Violet closed her eyes and tipped her head—of the bird-kids, she was the most colorful, pale purple feathers prompting her name, darker curly hair pulled back with a tie Sue had produced at the All-Mart. Her beak was different too, longer and thinner; ankles seemed a little too thin to comfortably walk with, wrists and arms similar, tail a little stubbier than the others. That was all fine too, he supposed—except she also seemed sluggish and tired at any given time, despite everything. Honestly, he was worried she wasn't getting enough to eat—that any of them were—except she was showing it the most.

"'Dashi," Nox continued, slipping over Taadashi's shoulder to land in his lap, flipping onto his back and pawing at Tadashi's chest. "Dashi-Dashi-Dashi—"

"Yeah I see you—how about that, Violet?" Tadashi asked her, flexing a hand above Nox and letting him catch it and tug on it. "I'll settle for two syllables—can you say 'Dashi?"

Violet opened her eyes, blinked at him a few times, closed them again with another short _fwee_.

"Okay, no offense Vi, but I'm thinking you might be insulting me." Look down at Nox, who had tugged Tadashi's hand to his mouth and was currently gnawing on it. "Um, _excuse me,_ but _I'm_ not food either! Oh no they're _that_ hungry—_someone hurry up on getting something to eat! The kids are doing the Donner Party!"_

"Still working on it!" Sashi called back.

"I'll try to be chewy then!"

Violet was looking at him again. "What about _your_ name?" Tadashi asked her. "Can you say _Vi_? See, that's _one_ syllable—Vi. Say _Vi."_

Yet another _fwee_, closing her eyes and tipping her beak away.

"Seriously? You've got to be—Nox, seriously, _what_ are you doing?" Tadashi demanded, looking down at the bird-kid in his lap. Currently, Nox was gnawing at Tadashi's wrist, would stop and pick at—his best guess—half-grown-in bird scales. "Yeah, I know, they weird me out too, but I don't think they come out just yet," he said, scratching his neck—and then wincing when he felt his nails draw blood. Pull his hand back and look—still black, leaning more towards claws right now than nails. "Ugh."

Nox blinked, looked at his hand—hopped out of his lap and started tugging on his wrist, throwing his weight into it when Tadashi didn't get up. "'Dashi—Dashi-Dashi-Dashi—_Daah-shiii—"_

"Okay okay, I'm coming," he said, getting up and letting Nox lead him away. "Don't go anywhere, Violet, we're not done."

Violet chittered something but otherwise didn't seem concerned, got up and followed them in wobbly fashion as Nox led Tadashi to the nearest tree.

"'Dashi," Nox said, pointing at the tree, tugging on his wrist before putting Tadashi's hand against it. "'Dashi yes 'Dashi."

"Yes, that's a very nice tree," Tadashi said, looking it up and down, feeling the rough bark on it. Look back at Violet. "How about this, Vi—say _tree_. Can you say _tree?"_

"_Daaah-shiii,"_ Nox wailed, redirecting his attention back to Nox—Nox jumped up, slapped both hands against the tree, fingers curled as he slid back down. "'Dashi—'Dashi yes—" warble chirp "'Dashi yes—" pause to think—"'Dashi _thhhs_ 'Dashi."

"Now what did that poor tree ever do to you?" Tadashi asked him, as Nox started clawing at the tree and sending chips of bark everywhere. Tug on his other hand—look—

Violet hopped up and down a little on her toes before letting go of his hand and going to the tree, clawing against it as well, whistling and warbling as she did so.

"Okay, I'm just going to say you guys have something against trees," Tadashi declared, putting his hands on his hips—Nox wailed, tugged on his hand again, putting it against the tree, squawking and squeaking as he went back to clawing at the bark. "I'm not getting what you're after, guys—and this tree looks too good off if you're hunting for bugs. Don't, by the way, that's not food."

Nox flopped down in a seated position with a frustrated yowl, yammered and chirped with Violet, who gestured with wings and hands before looking back at Tadashi.

"What?" he asked, arms crossed now, hands tucked against his chest. And nails catching against his hoodie, aggravatingly.

In response, Violet lifted her hands up, flexing her fingers, pointing at her nails a few times before going back to the tree and clawing at it. Stop, hold up her hands again, flexing her fingers and pointing at her nails.

It took a few more times of her and Nox doing this and tugging at his arms before he cottoned on to what they were wanting.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me," he muttered. "You want me to use the tree as a _scratching post?"_

Nox and Violet looked at him blankly.

Tadashi sighed—yeah, they wouldn't get that. Put a hand near the tree, flex his fingers a little without touching it. "Like this? You want this?"

"Yes!" Nox chirped, _fwee_ing a little before clawing at the tree again. "Yes 'Dashi yes" got out before his words dissolved into warbles and chirps again.

"Unbelievable," Tadashi muttered, looking at Violet—she was watching him with narrow eyes, pointed at the tree. "Completely unbelievable—are you bossing me around?"

"Yes," she said flatly, no hesitation or wobbliness in the word.

"Oh look at that, Vi knows at least _one_ word." Crouch down next to her. "Come on, Vi, say my name at least?"

Violet pointed at the tree again.

Tadashi sighed. "Fine, fine—I'll do it if you say _Tadashi."_

Violet considered this. "T'hhh…dHHH-shi." Point at the tree again.

"I guess that's close enough," he sighed, looking to see if anyone was watching before looking at his hands. They had stayed fairly normal for the most part, free of feathers, still scabbed over with burn scars, especially on the backs around the knuckles—the fingertips and the skin on the palm near the base of the fingers were rougher though, like he had permanent ragged callouses there, and here and there on the back of his fingers, wrists, and hand it looked like little scales like those found on bird feet were trying to grow through.

The nails, though—still black, and over the past month or so they had gone from pointy but still relatively benign to sharp and wickedly curved now. Small compared to the absolute claws on his toes, but so dangerous-looking—

Violet put a hand in his—small compared to his hands, she was so tiny compared to the others—her nails were still fairly short and blunted. He looked at her, she looked up at him, pointed at the tree and whistled.

The mental image of Hiro—clawed and bleeding from his nightmares—was what made him finally humor the kids.

"Okay, _ow_," he muttered—the bark pulled and dragged on his nails and tugged at the beds. Look at the tips—_maybe_ there was a bit of a difference?

"Yes!" Violet chirped, nodding along with Nox, both of them chirping and whistling and pointing—they went back to scratching at the tree, constantly chirping and squawking at him until he joined in.

_You're doing this for Hiro,_ he thought to himself, mostly to take the edge off of the weirdness of this. _You're doing this so you don't hurt someone by accident—you literally just hurt yourself by accident with these._

But at the same time, this was making his stomach roil—this was…this wasn't right. This was _weird_, this wasn't the sort of thing normal human beings did—

This was _her_ fault.

_Don't worry hon—we'll take good care of you._

_Right_—whoever she was, she was lucky he was a nice guy, but if she thought he'd take this lying down, she had another thing coming. Months of his life wasted, living in the woods, trying to get home without dying or starving, no idea what state his family was in—and now _this_.

And that was without the worry that the real true Tadashi Hamada was dead, and that he was just a pale feathery imitation.

_Stop that,_ he scolded himself. _Remember what you and 'Kase agreed on—don't worry about it until San Fransokyo. Just focus on getting there._

Nox and Violet whistled in confusion when he stopped scratching, resting his head against the bark, flipping his cap up—sighing as he tried to stave off the weight that threatened to crush him. He had to focus, had to stay here, in the present, instead of rushing ahead to worry—

_The gene cleansers wouldn't work on clones._

Look at Nox, batting at him and whistling—the both of them, perhaps, stuck as bird-people—and then what? He could barely keep everyone alive _now_ with a goal to work towards—wandering aimlessly, trying to stay alive…that was a terrible future, an absolutely terrible future indeed.

And then what if—what if the gene cleansers worked on _him_, but not on Nox? What would he do about a bird-kid who couldn't be rendered normal?

No—don't think about that—he'd figure out _something_—

"Hey 'Dashi! 'Dashi!"

Tadashi looked up, straightened his cap as Sashi came hustling over, Mei tucked under one arm.

"Presenting your favorite, first of all," Sashi said, handing him a handful of dandelion greens.

"Super," Tadashi muttered—the smallest leaves were the best, large ones like these were bitter, but beggars couldn't be choosers and they at least staved off the hunger.

"So what were you guys doing over here?"

"Well, apparently Nox and Violet have declared war on this tree," Tadashi said, handing a couple of leaves to Nox and Violet, who seemed just as enthusiastic about the greens as he did but ate them after Tadashi had his moment of silence and bit into one. "They talked me into joining on their side, but I'm worried the Lorax will be showing up soon."

"Probably," Sashi said, looking at the deep claw marks that had denuded large chunks of bark from the tree. Violet sniffed experimentally at the sap bleeding out, squawked when Tadashi tugged her away. "In the meantime—look, look what I taught Mei."

Sashi sat down, put Mei between them, facing him—cleared his throat before whistling a tune Tadashi recognized from _Legend of Zelda._

Mei started whistling the tune back at him.

"Hey that's great, Mei!" Tadashi said, smiling. "And now I have an overwhelming need to play video games—uh-oh, there goes Violet," he said, looking at her—she had been watching Mei intently, was now whistling the tune as well.

"I may have started something I shouldn't have," Sashi mused, as Nox started whistling as well. "But Beth and Sue were teaching some of the kids ABBA songs and it turns out I have limits."

"I am both wildly curious and concerned," Tadashi said, standing as he finished the last of the greens, flexing his hands and looking at the nails—the tips did seem blunted, but the entirety was still too long. "How bad does it sound?"

"The line _here we go again_ is more of a moan than a tune," Sashi said, picking Mei up as he stood. "But now I have background music as we explore the woods."

"That's true—hey, Mei is Navi. Mei! Say _hey!_ Can you say _hey?"_

"Okay, now _you're_ about to start something you shouldn't."

"Maybe—what is it, Violet?" Tadashi asked, noticing her waving.

In response she stuck her arms straight up, bounced a little. "Up!"

"Hey, that's right! Good Violet, that was definitely a word," Tadashi said, picking her up and cradling her against his chest. "So that's _two_ words today—can we make it three? Can you say _Tadashi?"_

"No," she said, burrowing her face against his shoulder.

"Okay, so to be fair that _was_ three words—come on, you said it earlier! Ow, Nox! Those are attached!" he moaned, leaning back as Nox climbed up, tugging on wing feathers as he went. "Too many kids!"

"It's just two," Sashi said, considering—smirking as he held Mei out, angling her over Tadashi's head. "What do you say, Mei? Want to make it three?"

"Don't you dare."

"I don't know, she really wants it," Sashi said, flicking a glance up at where Mei was squirming and _fwee_ing. "I feel like I should respect her wishes."

"I don't—_Mei_."

Mei was currently whistling and tweeting and chirping, hands and feet going everywhere as she tried to catch hold of something to keep from sliding off of Tadashi's head—he moved, ducked, trying to free up a hand to catch her—Sashi snatched her back before she could slip, ended up with both her and the hat she was clinging to.

"Hey!" Tadashi yelped, grabbing for his hat. "Mei, give that back!"

"All right Mei!" Sashi cheered, taking the hat from her and putting it on his own head. "Ha-ha! The leadership hat is mine!"

"Excuse me?"

"You're excused—hey!" he barked, when Tadashi snatched it back.

"The cap. Is mine," Tadashi said, putting it firmly back on his own head. "Get your own." Felt Nox put a hand on his head, shoving the brim over his eyes. "Nox…."

"Mine!" Nox cheered.

"Maybe I can use Mei instead," Sashi mused, lifting Mei up and holding her on his head—Mei seemed quite pleased with this turn of events, flailing her stubby wings. "Ah, here we go—it's like those little pinwheel beanies, but cooler."

"You insult Mei, comparing her to one of those beanies," Tadashi said, trying to keep a serious air. "And mine's cooler."

"Nope—Mei's better."

"Are you boys getting over here or what?" Sue called.

"_Coming,"_ they both chimed.

"All right fine—to be continued," Sashi said, picking his way back over to the others, Mei cheering and beating her wings. Tadashi started to follow—temporarily lost sight of them again when Nox leaned forward, shoving his cap over his eyes again.

"Nox," Tadashi sighed, trying to shove his hat back into place.

Nox just cheered something loud and incomprehensible, half-sliding over Tadashi's shoulder as he pointed, back claws digging into his feathers and hoodie as he hung on tight.

"You're a mess," Tadashi informed him, following Sashi. "And what about you, Vi? What do you think?"

Violet burbled something, still with her eyes closed and head rested against Tadashi's shoulders.

"Yeah, I know," he said quietly, patting her back. "We're going to try to fix it."

Continue to pick his way carefully through the undergrowth, leg shape still insultingly foreign, and can we just talk about how plain_ weird_ it was to have a tail and be aware of it besides? It kept flicking everywhere, and trying to think about what muscles were involved with keeping it still was kind of odd—nearly ran into Sashi while trying to puzzle it out.

"Hey!" Sashi barked.

"Oop—sorry," he said, already taking a step back.

"Not you—_you!"_ Sashi said, glaring at 'Kase, busy sitting next to the fire and laughing.

Why became clear when he saw eggs sizzling on flat rocks in the fire.

"You boys like your eggs runny or hard?" Beth asked, cracking another tiny egg on a rock.

"Where did you even get those!?" Sashi demanded, before blinking and shifting his weight a little. "And is that cannibalism, technically?"

"Oh, _grow up,"_ 'Kase said. "It's just eggs, some little songbird will be mad about it and get over it, big whoop."

_"You're feeding us the unborn."_

"All right, that means I get your bite."

"I didn't say I wasn't going to eat it."

"Knucklehead," Brittany muttered, sitting near the fire with Della in her lap.

'Kase's estimation of how much everyone got was accurate, and it was about like with the greens where the single bite of food made the hunger worse by only alleviating it a little.

"Next water source we find, we're catching fish," Tadashi told Sashi when they were all bedding down.

"Totally," Sashi muttered, pillowing his head and muttering something incomprehensible when Huey crawled along his back and started kneading between his wings. "Actually, do that a little lower."

Tadashi freed up a hand to pump in the air. "Finally! They're crawling on someone else!"

"There, see that? Huey, sic 'em."

"'Dashi!" Huey chirped, pointing at Tadashi before snuggling in under one of Sashi's wings. "Sashi yes Sashi _wrrr_ Sashi—"

"Finally, someone knows my pain," Tadashi said, fake drama lacing his tone.

"Oh yeah? Well the joke's on you, I _like_ my heating pad," Sashi said, curling up around Huey when he wormed his way under Sashi's arm. "Very state-of-the-art, also doubles as a masseuse."

"I'm going to pluck you both naked if you don't _shut up,"_ Brittany muttered.

"And now I'm going to sleep—good night."

"You wouldn't really, would you Brittany?" Tadashi asked.

"Do it," 'Kase told her. "I'll hold him down for you."

"And now it's both of them—thanks a lot, girls."

But curled up with Nox and Violet—when he was fairly certain everyone was asleep, he checked his nails again. Still long, tips somewhat blunted…still dangerous.

_Oh hon, monsters don't have families._

_The sight of Hiro torn and bleeding—_

He'd have to work on these some more, humor the kids, wear these nails down no matter how odd or weird it felt—he couldn't risk hurting someone with them, didn't want to risk it—

_It won't be a point once you use the gene cleansers,_ he reminded himself, settling down.

_Unless the gene cleansers don't work—in which case, welcome to your bizarre new life._

And that…what honestly what he was afraid of.

* * *

_They were walking through the woods—tall, leafy, straight—he shouldered his backpack so it wasn't so awkward, smiled down at Hiro walking beside him, phone out and taking pictures of everything. Things were going good—vague idea that they were going to be meeting up with…someone—first he was certain it'd be Aunt Cass, then he was certain it was his friends instead—randomly, his mind insisted no, Grump and 'Kase were waiting, and Grump was getting very angry that the tea was getting cold but he could wait—_

_They were sitting at a mad-hatter style tea party, Grump dressed in a vest and sweater and half-glasses and criticizing everything from how they were holding the teacups to how much sugar they were using to putting mustard in a pocket watch—all in English, tone very precise and snobbish, exactly how he expected it—Tadashi glanced at 'Kase, expecting to share a laugh with her at Grump's expense—_

_Her orange hawk eyes bored into him, flickering like flames._

You're running out of time.

_Blink—respond, feeling like he was at the bottom of a well—_

The feathers do more than—

City isn't—

Brother—Hiro—danger—

_She was sounding like a radio station caught in the throes of static and low batteries—what he got, the major thing he got was that he and Hiro needed to get going—feeling like something was closing tight and they had to get moving before it did—_

_They were moving back through the forest, light starting to dim—Hiro sticking close—_

_Something dark rustled through the underbrush, like millions of ants rambling through at once._

_He tried to tell Hiro to be careful, there were dangerous things out here—light up ahead—go there—_

_They came out to a clearing, a brief one with knee-high grass and flat rocks—Hiro slipped his hand into Tadashi's—_

_He looked down at the hitch in Hiro's voice, saw Hiro grasping his wrist, clutched hand bleeding—Tadashi reached down for it, Hiro looked up at something—_

Nox?

_In the woods—Nox in front of them, clawing at a fallen tree, looking up—all the trees had been clawed—Nox looked at him, mouth opening—_

It won't be enough.

Too far gone—

_Tadashi wasn't sure what to do—how to react—reached for Hiro, glancing between him and Nox—looked up sharply at loud crashing—_

_Something came crashing down through the trees, hit him, bowled him over, pinned him down as it screamed awful bloody murder—_

_Tadashi gasped at the sight—at the feathers, the burn scars, the ragged hoodie—_

_Himself._

_Only it wasn't him anymore—there was something gone behind the eyes, clothes tattered and worn, face twisted into a raging feral snarl, claws wicked sharp—_

Protect—flock—only—

Nothing in the city—

It won't work—

No family for monsters.

_Claws arced down for him—he flinched, throwing his hands up, bracing for the end—_

_It didn't come._

_Sit up, surprised—look around—_

_"Dah…shiiii…."_

_"No," he breathed, scrambling, reaching—_

_His hands were stained red, hoodie sleeves gone and showing burn scars and feathers—_

_And blood, so much blood, dripping from sharp curving claws—_

_And Hiro, lying there, broken, staining the ground red, hoodie in tatters, everything in tatters, eyes staring at him accusingly—_

Your fault.

_"No—no—Hiro—"_

I told you, monsters don't have families.

_Run for him—bounce off something invisible but solid—slam against it, try to go around—a box, trapped in a box—no—_

_A cage._

Monsters don't have families.

But that doesn't mean you can't see your brother again.

_Stare—no—try to break out, screaming for Hiro, unable to tear his eyes away from the sharp pointed things growing out of the red, starting to fill out into feathers, to cover the gore—Hiro was getting back up—_

_Except it was Nox, standing there with Hiro's hoodie and Grump's cold eyes._

_"No," Tadashi wheezed._

She knows—she knows, she has you fooled—

You'll go home—it won't work—

But she'll know—she'll know—

Monsters don't have families—

_"No!" Tadashi railed, trying everything to get out—_

_The forest was on fire, black skittering everywhere—_

_"'Dashi," Nox said, in his and Hiro's voices. "You have to save one of us, 'Dashi—you can only save one of us—which will it be?"_

_"No—stop—"_

_"'Dashi—'Dashi—DAAAH-SHIII!"_

Tadashi gasped, jerking awake—looked up—

Startled back when he saw Nox leaning over him.

"'Dashi?" Nox noised, sounding concerned, expression crumpled. "'Dashi okay 'Dashi?"

His surroundings started coming to him then—he was in the woods, yes, but they weren't on fire, nobody was dead—glance—Grump still had no clothes on, was sleeping soundly. Everyone was, except for him and Nox. Whom, he realized, had his hands on Tadashi's shoulders, like he had been trying to shake him awake for some time.

"S-sorry," he muttered, struggling into a sitting position. "Sorry—did I wake you? I'm sorry if I woke you."

"Mrr," Nox noised, crawling into his lap and curling up, hooking his fingers in Tadashi's hoodie.

"Yeah," Tadashi sighed, massaging the back of Nox's head, hugging him close, careful of his nails (_claws, you don't have anything that qualifies as human nails anymore_). Missing Hiro so hard it was painful, especially with that nightmare fresh in his mind. "I'm just…I'm worried. I miss him, you know?"

"'Dashi," Nox muttered, face buried in his collar. "'Dashi okay 'Dashi."

"Yeah, that's what you think," he sighed, trying to get his trembling to stop. The feeling of a warm body curled up against his chest in the dark, especially with the palpable feeling of the aftereffects of a nightmare—"I've told you how much you remind me of my little brother Hiro, right?"

"Hrrhhh," Nox noised, rubbing his face against Tadashi's hoodie. "'Dashi okay 'Dashi 'Dashi _hrrr_ 'Dashi."

"Y'know, sometimes I don't understand a thing you're trying to say," Tadashi told him, hugging him a little tighter before relaxing, just a bit. "Sometimes I wonder if you know what _I'm_ saying, how much you understand. You'd let me know, right? You'd let me know if you understood."

"Yhhmrrff."

Tadashi couldn't help but sigh again. "Well…."

Well he didn't know where to go from there—he was feeling worn-thin, exhausted, and not just from a lack of sleep; the worry was eating away at him. Worry about Hiro, worry about everyone here—

Worry about whether or not he had a home waiting for him—

He wanted to rush ahead and find out, get it resolved for better or worse—but he couldn't, couldn't leave these people, couldn't leave them in their dire straits—'Kase would huff and roll her eyes, but he _had_ to help, he had to—what would have happened to any of them if he hadn't—what would have happened to Della, to Nox, to Violet—

He looked at the little purple bird-kid at that thought, lying next to him—for a heart-stopping moment, he thought she was dead, limbs splayed to the side, not moving—hasty move to check her neck for a pulse was quickly amended to a gentle touch, felt life pulsing there—rest his hand on her ribs, just underneath her shoulder, wait until he felt her chest rise and fall before heaving a sigh of relief.

She felt cold, though.

"Here," Tadashi said, shuffling a little closer to her, shifting Nox around as he tried to scoop Violet up one-handed—she felt limp, mumbling a little as he managed to get his arm under her, guided her up into his lap to hug against his chest, trying his best to get his warmth into her. Curl up around her, not giving much thought to tail and wings furling around, just focused on getting her warm again. Felt Nox paw at her, extend a wing, wrap it around her, tug her close, chittering quietly.

"Mrrh," Violet murmured, starting to squirm a little.

"There she is," he breathed. "There she is, there's Violet—where've you been, huh? You gave me a scare there, girl."

She blinked blearily at him, opened her beak, wide and wordlessly.

"I know girl, I know," Tadashi said, hugging them close, tucking his head in close to theirs. "Next thing Sashi and 'Kase find, I let you have my share, okay? Stay with me girl—stay with us Violet, okay?"

Violet murmured, not sounding fully here—Nox started quietly vocalizing to her, he could feel Nox pawing at her, resting his head against hers—

"Mnnh!" Violet noised finally, movement stronger now—adjust his hold on her—she was starting to feel warm again.

"There she is," Tadashi sighed, tension starting to leave his spine. "There she is. You scared me, Vi."

"Dhhshi," Violet noised, rubbing at her face and sagging against him, snuggling close to him and Nox, finally feeling warm and like herself again, not like she was getting ready to….

Deep sigh, adjust himself, feeling the bones of his lower spine grinding against each other—couldn't exactly lie down like this, and he didn't have anything to lean against—but he didn't want to risk Violet possibly being exposed and chilled again—

But maybe he was fine with this—maybe he was fine with staying up all night, keeping an eye on everything, making sure everyone was all right—

Staying away from his nightmares….

Gently free a hand to clench it, feeling still-sharp claws digging into his skin—he couldn't—the idea of maybe…of hurting _anyone_, anyone he cared about—

And another worry starting to eat at him, the idea that maybe…that maybe he should start worrying about staying human, if he had ever actually been.

No—no, stop—stay focused, stay positive—he'd get through this—_they'd_ get through this—right now all they really needed was a good meal, they'd be fine—he _had_ to believe everything would be fine.

_Please,_ he begged skywards. _Let us be fine—let us get through this, please. Let us get home to our families._

_Please, let me get home to Hiro._


	12. River Run

**Chapter 12, everybody! And in other news, I need more sleep—curse random noises and the bats from years ago that left me convinced that one got in my room AGAIN.**

**As far as the boys go…they need sleep too, but that doesn't stop them from quoting ****_A Goofy Movie, Happy Feet,_**** and ****_Aladdin_****. Kind of also based on me and Mom having our own sleep-deprived humor, so good times. :D**

**And when I wrote this, the Waffle Houses were open. Now, posting it, they're closed. Quarantines are annoying and I have concerns because of all the research I did on epidemics last year for a different fic—I'm on a watchlist somewhere, I know it….**

**In other news, you shouldn't drink water from outside it has germs, use iodine or boil it first (there's other ways, I'm sure, but they require some poking around online). Birds do like baths and will bathe like that, and…of course Webby floats she's a duck in canon. ^^ Nares are bird-nostrils, by the way. And that stump Nox tackles is based on one that was in our yard for a long while—I don't know why, but I liked it enough to add it here. ^^**

**And then the rest of it…is basically based on a combination of the river scenes from ****_Homeward Bound_**** and the original ****_Jumanji_**** movie—really enjoyed writing this I'm sorry. ^^ Dry drowning is a real thing, by the way, and can happen when someone suddenly enters the water. No tackling people into pools, friends.**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Ah, success. :D I KNOW, RIGHT? Our boy is going to need a whole lot of serious therapy after this—just look at that eye twitching. I'm working on it, I swear! D:**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

**A Goofy Movie © 1995 Disney**

**Aladdin © 1992 Disney**

**Happy Feet © 2006 George Miller**

**Homeward Bound © 1993 Buena Vista Pictures (technically Disney)**

**Jumanji © 1995 Joe Johnston**

After all the crazy that had happened in the past couple of days, Tadashi more than welcomed the tedium of walking through the woods again.

"At least until we find another clearing," he assured the others. "And we want to do it either dawn or dusk, we don't want people seeing us—"

"That's how rumors start," Sue muttered, making Beth snort.

"I always wanted to be a cryptid," Sashi said.

"Great," Tadashi told him. "When we get back you and Fred can team up and figure that one out."

"Excellent. I'm going to have to work on it though—my pictures aren't blurry enough. I need to practice my bigfoot pose."

"'Could you back up a little, Mr. Foot?'" Tadashi asked, shoving Sashi a little. "'You're out of focus.'"

The way Sashi started laughing suggested he was familiar with that movie.

"I expect to see you doing the point to 'Staying Alive,' by the way."

Sashi went down for a few minutes after that, laughing so hard he couldn't breathe.

"It wasn't _that_ funny," 'Kase commented.

"What, never watched _A Goofy Movie?"_

"Never heard of it."

"Gasp—_sacrilege."_

"'I knew it! It was all a lie,'" Sashi managed, before devolving into laughter again.

"Oh no, he's cracked," Brittany said, maneuvering by them—and prompting another round for quoting Iago from _Aladdin_, whether she intended it to be so or not. Grump and 'Kase gave up on them too, and by the time the two had stopped laughing, they had gotten an audience of very confused kids.

"'Dashi?" Nox asked, poking him. "'Dashi okay 'Dashi?"

"Hh-yeah, I'm fine," Tadashi wheezed, being careful when rubbing the tears from his eyes—having claws instead of nails hurt darn it. "Sashi, 'Kase was right, that wasn't that funny."

"You two needed it," Beth told them from further up the hill—she and Sue had found a log there that they were busy resting on. "You're too young to be dour-faced all the time."

"Ahhh…just the situation we're in, I guess," Tadashi said, struggling upright. "Need a hand?"

"Y-yeah, maybe," Sashi said, giggling a little still.

Tadashi considered him, waited until Sashi reached for his hand before doing his best imitation of Goofy's _a-hyuck._

Sashi was indisposed for another five minutes.

"'Dashi," Nox asked, tugging on Tadashi's hoodie and pointing at Sashi. "'Dashi why Sashi why okay why?"

"Okay, so when we get back we're going to introduce you kids to the concept of _movies_," Tadashi told him. "In the meantime—Sashi I'm jealous, they got your name all right no problem."

"Well," Sashi coughed, still trying to compose himself. "They already got a chunk of your name and it's similar so—Dashi-Sashi." Which was apparently very funny.

"You got a hold of something, didn't you? I told you not to eat those mushrooms." Poke Sashi in the side to try to get him standing again, mostly succeeded in getting him snorting harder. "Hey, are you going to make it?"

"I'm fine," Sashi managed—sat up, took a deep breath—let it out, hands up. "Okay—I'm good. I think."

Tadashi decided to test that.

_"That doesn't help!"_ Sashi all but shrieked, going down for the count again, Huey bouncing around him and squawking in alarm.

When they were finally able to continue, Sue and Beth were probably the only ones not thoroughly irritated with them. Tadashi did feel better though, he had to admit.

"I think when we stop again we really ought to think hard about getting a good night's sleep for once," he told Sashi finally.

Sashi didn't miss a beat.

"'Dashi, you're cute, but I'm just not that into you."

Tadashi was useless for another five minutes after that.

* * *

Normal conversation resumed when they broke for lunch, i.e., Sashi and 'Kase trying to _find_ something that counted as edible. It was a bit of a production, considering the arguing that went on.

Tadashi, meanwhile, was keeping an eye on the kids—or trying to. The little ones he didn't have to worry about, the little ones stayed around Beth and Sue and behaved themselves. The older ones…were a mess. That was the nicest he could put it—they ran around, squawked, got into things they probably shouldn't…flying didn't even tire them out, and that was pretty exhausting in Tadashi's opinion. Brittany was trying to help, but eight kids that couldn't stay still for more than two minutes outwitted them on a regular basis.

"I've decided I'm not having kids," Brittany heaved, after having to run down a fleeing Dewey and Louie once again.

"I'm getting close," Tadashi said, peeling a protesting Violet off a tree, quietly glad she was feeling better—and then having to run after Della, who was hobbling along as fast as she could on her hands and good leg, holding her bound one up off the ground as she went. Nox dodged by, jumped onto a dead tree that was basically nothing but five feet of stump left—squawked when his weight snapped it at the base and sent it crashing down.

"Nox!" Tadashi yelped, running over. "Are you okay?"

Nox chirped, sitting up—looked back at the stump, snarled and pounced on it, pawing and clawing at it like a cat sharpening its claws, snarling and hissing as Webby cheered him on.

"Yes, how dare that stump snap under your weight," Tadashi sighed, carting the protesting girls back to the temporary camp. "Busy minding its own business until you decided to tackle it."

"Are you muttering to yourself, or should I be paying attention?" Brittany asked, trying to distract the boys by showing them how tic-tac-toe worked.

"Muttering to myself, ignore me."

"So per usual."

"Ha ha, you're not funny," he said, depositing the girls. "Hey girls, look at what Brittany's doing! Doesn't that look fun?"

"Yeah don't—you're selling it too thick."

Violet seemed to think so too, dodging around him and heading back to where Nox was still busy showing the dead tree who was boss. Tadashi headed over again when Nox started making lots of noise—was nearly tripped by Dewey and Louie barreling over—

"_Oh_ no!" he barked, running the rest of the way and tugging the kids away from the shredded log—which as he suspected, was crawling with grubs. "_No_ that is _NOT. FOOD._ _Nox get that out of your mouth—"_

Which led to squawking, which led to _I know you're hungry let's just wait and see what 'Kase and Sashi found_—which was not much. Not for the first time, Tadashi lamented the fact that they hadn't been able to catch any fish before the bears happened.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Tadashi muttered, rubbing at his neck as Nox tugged on his arm and squawked, Violet hanging on his back and squawking direct into his ear—nails were getting better though, what with routinely humoring the kids and 'playing at tree wars,' as he explained it to the others. "We'll get something…someone might have put a Waffle House out here with employees that don't ask a lot of questions…."

"You know, checking to see if the Waffle House is still open was something someone at one of the prepper meetings brought up to determine if everything hit the fan," Sashi said, snorting a little. "Course, I'm pretty sure they were just being silly, so…."

"No, it's a valid way to check," Brittany said.

"And so useful on road trips," Sue agreed.

"Okay!" 'Kase barked from up ahead. "On the list of things we are no longer allowed to talk about: politics, bears, and now fast-food places."

"Can we just talk about the food?" Sashi asked.

_"No."_

Tadashi sighed, tried to ignore his stomach complaining. Harder to ignore was Violet suddenly pushing herself up, shoving his hat down as she stood on his shoulders, hands on his head. "Violet…."

Violet squawked, moved a hand—he guessed she was pointing. Try to angle his head around so he could see, saw 'Kase looking. "What? What's she saying?" he asked.

"That there's water nearby," 'Kase said, looking around. "Possibly enough water for there to be _fish_."

"_Yes,"_ Sashi hissed, clenching his fists. "Now please let there not be—"

_"What did I say!?"_

"Let there be just fish?"

"Better," 'Kase said, heading up the next rise.

Tadashi reached up as the others set off, waited until he felt Violet grab onto his forearm before helping her down to his back again.

"So how do you know there's water up ahead?" he asked her as they followed the others. "You've been here before, haven't you?"

"No," Violet said.

"Oh look at that Violet knows a word—can you say _Tadashi?_ Can you say my name? Can you say _Tadashi?"_

"'Dashi," Nox said, bouncing around as best he could while hanging on to Tadashi's arm. "Dashi-Dashi-Dashi—"

"You know, one of these days you're going to have to add a _ta_ to the front of that."

"Dashi-Dashi-Dashi—"

"We'll work on it," Tadashi sighed—

And then perked up at a new noise, mentally wincing at feeling his ears twitch.

"Violet's right," 'Kase said from the top of the rise. "There's water down there—not sure if I want to call it a stream or a river."

"I vote stream," Sashi said.

"I didn't ask you."

"Beth, 'Kase's being mean to me."

"You two fight nice," Beth said.

By this time, Tadashi had reached the top of the rise, looked down with the others at the stream that Grump was padding towards, several of the kids following.

"I'm going with either _stream_ or _glorified ditch,"_ Tadashi said. "Either way, think there's fish in there?"

"Only one way to find out," Sashi declared.

* * *

As it turned out, the stream was bigger up close and edged closer to _sluggish river_ than the _glorified ditch_ Tadashi had posited. They checked upstream and downstream, found where the stream widened out after a little waterfall—the whole thing had been too wide to jump, but this particular pond was nearly triple that.

"I still say it's too sedate to be a river," Tadashi said, scratching his face.

"And _I_ say this would be a good spot for fish," Sashi said, wading into the water near the little waterfall. "Hoo! Cold!"

Lena and Huey stood on the bank watching and chirping at Sashi, probably wondering what he was doing. Tadashi, meanwhile, was considering the stream, looked up to see how thick the canopy was above them. Not thin enough to fly through, but….

"We're probably going to have to—" he started—paused, looked at the handful of kids watching him. "Uh…F-L-Y over."

"You've reached that point," Sue told him. "You're ready for kids, I think."

"I'm not sure I'm ready for that news."

"You still have to figure out ninety-percent of it," Beth said, making a little mound of sand and putting a leaf on it to show Mei and Trisha how to make sandcastles. "But you're getting there."

"'Kase! The girls are picking on me!"

"Good!" 'Kase barked from a branch, looking everywhere. "Still a lot of woods, don't see anything, definitely going to have to—"

"Either spell it or don't say it!"

"Cross the river, you ninny."

Tadashi blew an irritated gust of air, looked at Grump when he snorted, watched Grump lumber to the river, sniff at it—jump over, flap once, twice before landing on the other side.

"Showoff," Tadashi muttered—and then squawking with alarm when Dewey ran by. "Dewey, _what_—"

Dewey jumped—landed right in the water. Tadashi suspected on purpose.

"Well what did you _think_ it was going to be like?" he asked, when Dewey surfaced with a shriek, wings beating. Grit his teeth, wade out to him—"Sashi, you said _cold_—you didn't say _penguins could swim in this."_

"I also said I was going to try _fishing_," Sashi said, throwing his hands up. "You all have entirely missed the concept of fishing—that is, _not scaring the fish!"_

"Give it up, Sashi, you're not catching any," Brittany sighed, cupping a hand in the water.

"WAIT no don't just drink water from a stream you've got to boil it first," Sashi yelped, splashing out to stop her.

"Goes for you too," Tadashi said, reaching Dewey and putting a hand under his stomach—Dewey quickly latched on, climbed up to Tadashi's back—hung on as he shook himself, to Tadashi's displeasure.

And then Webby and Nox jumped in.

"Someone stop Della!" Tadashi barked, guessing she'd be next—Sashi belly-flopped, but managed. "And you two—_yes it's cold did you learn nothing?"_

Nox squawked, climbed up onto Tadashi—who was thrown off-balance when Dewey launched off his back to land in the water again.

"Ackpth—stop it—you're going to take forever to dry—_you can't go flying until you're dry!"_ Tadashi yelled, struggling upright—it wasn't deep enough for him, barely to his waist, but it was cold and wet and his feathers were sticking to him and weighing as much as they did when they had flown in the rain.

Webby chirped as she floated by, wings spread and keeping her afloat as she dog-paddled, tail swishing back and forth, drifting away in the slight current towards the deeper middle—Tadashi grabbed her, sloshed after Dewey, who spotted him and started squawking, paddling faster—managed to grab him too, prompting a lot of grumbling as he waded back to shore. Mostly from Dewey, although Tadashi had good reason to be grumbling too.

"I'm not ready for kids," he declared upon reaching dry land. "Sashi, can we _please_ get a fire?"

"Now see, you say that, but I think you are," Sue said, showing Taylor, Drew and Harry how to draw in the sand.

"I'm pretty sure I'm not—_Louie DON'T—"_

The shadows were long by the time they finally got the kids to _stop_ trying to go swimming—Nox and Webby had tried several times, as had Dewey and Louie, some of the others trying to bathe in the stream and sending sprays of water ten feet with their flapping wings—by the time the kids finally stopped, Tadashi and at least five kids were soaking wet and trying to stay warm by the fire.

"I—now hey listen, I don't want to hear it, I _TOLD_ you guys about going in that water," Tadashi told the protesting and wailing kids, all pressed together in between drying their wings next to the fire. "And Webby don't get that close you'll catch your feathers on fire."

Webby protested as Brittany pulled her back; Lena chittered something, edges of her beak pulled up in a smirk and nares wrinkling—

Webby immediately forgot the fire and ran after a fleeing Lena, wings and arms spread.

"And now there's that," Tadashi sighed. "_Lena! Webby!"_

"Oh here—I'll take pity on your poor self," Beth said, wiping her hand on her shirt before stuffing two fingers in her mouth and loosing an ear-piercing whistle. _"Lena! Webby! Here!"_

"Wow," Tadashi said, when Lena and Webby angled back and the ringing in his ears had ceased somewhat. "It works on dogs _and_ bird-kids."

"Also children of any age," Beth said, looking at the two girls. "Now you two stop that—you don't want to be running around the woods at night."

Lena warbled something, arms flapping—squawked and hissed when Webby glomped on her back, slapping dripping wings around her as well—Tadashi had to intervene, peeling Webby off while Beth held Lena still.

"Okay—Webby, you stay here and dry," Tadashi said, planting her at a safe distance from the fire. "Louie, you're going to burn your fingers don't touch that—Lena, you stay over there by Beth, okay?"

Lena didn't give any indication that she had heard him—she was too busy fussing over her feathers and shooting an occasional hiss at Webby and then at Violet for laughing at her.

"Ai, this is exhausting," Tadashi muttered, wringing out his hoodie again.

"Well maybe Sashi has good news," Sue suggested, looking at the teen heading their way with wet feet. "Well?" she asked, as 'Kase dropped down.

"I give up," Sashi sighed, sitting next to the fire and stretching his toes. "I don't think there's a fish in that stream."

Which was about when Grump came padding up, having apparently come to the decision that they weren't crossing the body of water that no one could decide was a stream or river. Sat down pointedly next to Sashi, looking at him—

Tadashi spotted the silvery shape of a fish hanging out of his beak the same time Sashi did—which was what Grump was waiting for apparently, because he tipped his head back and swallowed it.

"I hate you," Sashi told the griffin, 'Kase giving a short unbelieving bark.

"I don't believe you," she said. "You are such an—"

"What did we say about cursing in front of the kids?" Tadashi interrupted.

'Kase considered him before looking at the nearest bird-kids. "Who wants to learn something new to call Grump?"

_"'KASE!"_

* * *

They were pretty much dry the next morning, and Sashi's attempts at catching something edible still fell through—Tadashi suggested just crossing the river, trying from the other side.

"What, you think the fish all swam over there?" Sashi groused.

"No, but we have to cross this thing anyway," Tadashi said, keeping tone and expression mild. "And maybe there's something edible over there."

Sashi considered it, scanned the opposite shore. "All right, fair enough—besides, I'll feel better if we have a river between us and—" Glance around, lean in close to Tadashi, cupping his hand around his mouth. "Bears."

_"I heard that!"_ 'Kase bellowed.

"Dangit," Sashi sighed.

"Well then now hear this," Tadashi called back. "We're crossing the river—everyone grab a kid—_Grump that means you too_—"

Transporting the younger kids was easy enough—getting airborne took more of an effort than catching them, since they were all still snuggled together against the chill in the air. The older kids had Tadashi and Sashi corralling them and directing them over the water, pointing at where the girls were standing on the far shore and waving at them.

"See?" Tadashi asked, pointing again. "Right over there—short hop—_fly over,_ Dewey," he said, intercepting the bird-kid dashing for the water. "I'm asking you to fly for once—see? One big flap and then you just soar over!"

Dewey flapped several times—Tadashi let go, wincing at the stinging tips of his wings, watched Dewey wobble up into the air before angling over to the others, cheering. Several others were quick to follow after that, Della was already over on the other side, having been carted over by Beth—

"'Dashi," Nox noised from right next to him.

"Of course you're still here," Tadashi sighed, glancing at the dark-feathered bird-boy. "Don't you want to fly over there with the others? Doesn't that look fun?"

"Beh," Nox noised, tugging on Tadashi's hoodie. "'Dashi yes 'Dashi—"

"I'll pretend I understood that."

"Okay, so that's everybody except Nox and…Violet," Sashi said, looking at the purple-feathered girl—out of the lot of the flighted bird-kids, she was the smallest. "Um…Violet, you want to try flying for once? It's like…a super-short one—she could make it, right?"

"I don't know," Tadashi said, shrugging and watching her gingerly spread her wings. "I've never actually risked letting her fly before." Not when she always looked and acted so lethargic—her wings failing her midair was a nightmare that was much too easy for him to visualize.

Not that he had to worry about it, it seemed—she flapped once, twice—beat her wings harder, faster—didn't get off the ground. Looked up at them, wings loose and trailing, whistled in bereft fashion.

"I don't want to hear about me not getting off the ground right away anymore," Sashi told her.

"Sashi, be nice," Tadashi scolded. "Come on, Violet, you can fly with me."

Violet's expression was glaring now, directed at them, at the river, upstream, downstream—up above the river—

"Hey!" Tadashi barked, when he followed her line of sight. "Get over there with the others!"

Lena and Webby both made chattering noises but didn't stop circling until he took a threatening step forward—they both dove to hide behind Sue then.

"Uh!" Sashi yelped, already moving. "Violet bolted!"

"What!?" Tadashi squawked, looking around—Nox chittered, disappeared downstream—"No wait—guys the water gets _worse_ downriver _Sashi—"_

On the list of frustrating things about his new appearance, the fact that bird legs were just a pain to run with topped the list. Add trying to get through underbrush that the kids just slipped through on all fours, and he was pretty sure he had some scratches to go with his stubbed toes.

When they finally got back in the clear, it was to find Nox standing upright on the shore, chattering and chirping at Violet, already halfway across the river.

"Jumping rocks," Sashi observed, sounding stunned and amused. "I can't believe it."

"Violet!" Tadashi yelled—hesitated—she always seemed so aggravated by him helping her and carting her around…."You alright?"

Violet paused to turn back to them, waving and whistling. Seemed sure on her feet.

"Oh…kay then…good work, I guess," he muttered, glancing at Sashi with the intent to outline how they were going to hover like anxious older siblings without being obvious about it as Grump ambled into view on the opposite shore. Violet jumped onto a half-fallen log, resting on other deadfall in the water, started climbing up it—

She made it to the peak of the deadfall when the rotting base snapped under her weight, sending her crashing into the water.

_"VIOLET!"_ Tadashi screamed, certain Sashi echoed him, Nox shrieking in alarm—

Violet surfaced several yards downstream, caught in the heavier current, hands waving, beak moving but no sound coming out—

"_Violet!"_ Run after her, barrel through the underbrush on the sides of the river—dimly aware of losing his hat, of Sashi behind him yelling _hold on, Violet!_—the current was speeding up, she was flailing, trying to stay above the water—he might have heard her cry out, a plaintive _weh—_

Later, looking back on it, he'd realize that his redoubling of his efforts, to try and get ahead of her so he could strike out and reach her, had him running like Nox had earlier—he didn't have time to think about that now though, what mattered was that Violet was in a river rapidly becoming rough and what was that noise it sounded like heavy air traffic, a dull roar—

No.

Look ahead, saw rocks, saw rapids, saw mist—a waterfall up ahead—_no—Violet no—_

Another dead branch—she'd go right under it—

He'd catch her there.

Every muscle in his body was burning from the effort—skid on the slippery rocks, climb out—she was coming much too fast—

"Hang on Violet!" he yelled, gripping the branch hard—he'd have to do what the kids did that one time, but there was no time to hesitate—"Swim! Swim _hard!"_

Swing—swing upside down, water slashing his face—scan quick, arms out—

Violet saw him, arms stretched—

He caught her, hands wrapping around her forearms, her claws digging into his skin—the current was still dragging her to an inexorable drop, pulling him around—dig his claws in deeper, toes tightening when he saw just how tall the waterfall was—start pulling her out of the water—

A creaking groan reached his ears just as the log he was gripping snapped in half.

Violet shrieked—he threw his wings out, despite knowing that'd do nothing—they'd be soaked to uselessness before they reached the drop, they'd both go over the edge—

_I'm sorry, Hiro_, he thought, already seeing in his mind's eye how it would play out—they'd go over the edge, he'd curl his body around Violet to protect her from the impact—

And he'd be the one breaking on the rocks below.

But she'd survive the impact.

Close his eyes, pulling her close—

Something yanked hard on his tail before he fully fell in, stopping his forward momentum—he cried out as his spine was yanked out of joint, it felt like, something pulling one way, the water pulling the other—

And then he was on relatively dry ground, looking around in alarm—

Grump let go of his tail then.

"I—" So many questions—things to say—

Not now.

"Violet!" he yelped, putting her down to check her over—limp, trembling—"Violet! Say something!" Put an ear to her chest—heart fluttering, sounding wet inside—roll her on her back, start thumping—

Violet coughed, hacked, water spittling out of her beak—she was soaked to the bone and shaking.

"Did you get her?!" Sashi yelped, jumping the rocks in a way he'd never manage any other time. "Is she okay!?"

"I got her," Tadashi said, not knowing the answer to the second question—not yet. "Sashi—we need a fire—she's cold—"

"I'm on it—hold on—hold on Violet, okay?" Sashi blathered, feet slipping as he ran for the shore. Tadashi picked Violet up, hugging her to his chest—he was soaked too—Nox clinging to him and wailing and asking _okay? Okay?_ over and over again—dimly he registered the others squawking and startled when they heard what happened—

Grump nudged his shoulder, lifted a wing, indicated Violet with his beak.

It took a beat for Tadashi to get it—Grump wasn't wet, he'd be warm—gingerly hold Violet there, trying to coax her to hold onto Grump's fluff—Grump folded his wing in, pinning her there—glanced at Tadashi like he wasn't sure where to go with this.

Tadashi patted him on the thick ruff of his neck. "Thank you," he said thickly, limbs trembling from adrenaline abandoning him. "For saving us. That was…thank you."

Grump huffed, lowered and shook his head, carefully headed back to solid ground, Tadashi close behind, Nox clinging to his back and chittering in worry—already they were being mobbed by the other kids, squawking and squealing and just giving off waves of worry—Tadashi and the girls managed to keep them off of Grump, who found Sashi a bit farther upstream working a clearing over and throwing a fire together with all the haste he could manage. Grump laid there, watching Sashi work as Beth and Sue pointed out that Tadashi's soaked clothes weren't doing him any favors.

Tadashi consented to unzipping his hoodie, voice still a little wobbly as he pointed out what a pain it was to tug the clothes on and off—and then squawking when Brittany yanked his hoodie off.

"Stop being such a baby," she told him. "We're not going anywhere."

He had to concede that point, went over to crouch next to Grump's folded wing, the one he was currently curled around. "Violet?"

All he could see was the tip of her beak, but it twitched open, making a wet gasping noise.

"Violet it's going to be okay—I need to work her over a little, she sounds like she took in a lot of water—"

"Dry drowning," Sashi said, looking ill.

Dry drowning, as Sashi explained to them, still building the fire as Tadashi massaged and drummed Violet's back, her draped over a knee—dry drowning was what happened when a person took in water from an unexpected dunking. It was water in the lungs, it could kill a person hours after they had gotten out of the water—

It was an absolutely terrifying thought.

The fire was going good and the sun had set, and Tadashi's arms were sore from working Violet over—she clung to his leg weakly, the fabric of his pants bunched up in her hands, still coughing up water at times—Grump had gotten up and wandered off, and several of the kids were close and making worried noises, all of them unnaturally quiet.

Sashi came back with an armful of wood, sat down in Tadashi's ever-narrowing sphere of awareness. "How is she?"

"I don't know," Tadashi said—the ache in his arms had gotten all the way to the small of his back, but he didn't dare stop. "She's still coughing up water."

Sashi nodded, pulled something out. "I found your hat."

Tadashi hardly recalled losing it. "Thanks," he muttered, as Sashi put it on his head—barely conscious of an ear flicking free from being pinned under it.

Sue sat next to him. "Let me do that for a while—you look like you're about to collapse on her."

He wanted to argue, he really did—but Brittany already had her, gently peeling her off of his knee and handing her to Sue—Violet might have squawked, weakly and with little sound, reaching out—

Tadashi put his hand in hers, propping his arm up with a folded knee. "It's okay, Violet, you're still here."

Violet made another weak noise—Tadashi slipped a little, ended up slouched against Sue—tried to apologize, ended up making a sort of mumbled noise—

Darkness.


	13. Over the Waterfall

**Chapter 13, everybody! In which I get the feeling that 'Kase and Sashi have had at least ****_one_**** argument about sushi….And no, I don't know how the kids have pockets full of rocks and don't sink—let's call it hammerspace and give it a wave (i.e., the writer completely blanked on it and decided to just go ****_oh well_****). Also: title-drop time! :D**

**Pretty sure I mentioned this before, but Sashi is quoting Griffin from the Kenneth Oppel book ****_Firewing_****—fun read. :) Sashi's also quoting a Tumblr post I found on Pinterest that entertained me enough that it finds its way here. And we had a cockatoo that loved to roll up the strings on our jackets and the ribbons on our nightgowns in her beak—this one's for you, Sammy.**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Glad it made you laugh. :D And then panic—yes Grump is a big softy and he doesn't want that getting around but he'll have to live with that. :) That is ****_exactly_**** the reason—hummingbirds have a high-sugar diet and since she's not getting that, its affecting her day-to-day life. Thank you! Hopefully it continues to please. :D**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

**Firewing © 2002 Kenneth Oppel**

Tadashi jerked out of a nightmare of him being too late, of Violet screaming as she plummeted over the falls—

"Violet!"

"She's right here," Beth said, looking over. "She's okay—she made it."

Tadashi blinked, shook his head a little—Nox warbled something that sounded concerned, hopped around him as he struggled upright.

"Dashi-Dashi-Dashi okay Vi _'Dashi—"_

"I don't know, give me a minute," Tadashi mumbled, managing to haul himself over to sit next to Beth. Violet's clothes and his hoodie were on sticks near the fire, which Brittany was steadily keeping the kids away from. That wasn't his main concern at the moment though.

Violet always looked small, but she was positively tiny in Beth's lap, the sparks that bled through her lethargy dampened by the events of yesterday. She was still gasping, still trembling, eyes scrunched up, wet leaking out her nose—

"Oh Violet," Tadashi sighed.

She opened her eyes blearily—lost some of the tightness around her eyes as she focused on him. Stretch her arms out, hands grasping for him—

"Dahh…shiii," she managed.

Tadashi put a hand in hers, smiling softly. "Yeah, that's right—good girl." Watched as she struggled and kicked—hauled herself into his lap, collapsing there.

"Are you okay?" Beth asked him.

"I don't know yet," he told her honestly—that had been a near-death experience for the both of them, and it had come completely out of the blue—he should have just grabbed her before she took off—

Sashi came from the direction of the river, Grump trailing behind, both of them with something silvery in their possession.

"I don't believe it," Tadashi said, blinking at them. "You caught some fish!?"

"Told you it worked," Sashi said, straightening up, chest swelling—at least until Grump spat a fish at the back of his head.

"You guys should almost drown more often," 'Kase said, swooping in. "Grump is being suddenly and surprisingly helpful."

"I appreciate it, at least," Tadashi said to the griffin, who flopped down in a huff. "Hey, Violet," he murmured, shaking her a little. "Violet, we've got fish. You hungry?"

Violet blinked at him, eyes looking rheumy—coughed wetly a few times before retching.

"She's done that a few times," Beth said. "She's not throwing up water anymore though, so that might be a good sign."

"That's good, I think—you're okay, Violet," he told her, rubbing her back as she slumped over his leg. Webby pressed her head against Violet's, warbling quietly as Lena hovered over them both.

"On the positive side, that waterfall gives us a clean way out of the woods," 'Kase said. "It's going to be a few days before we can fly again, though," she added, eyeing Violet.

"She'll be fine," Tadashi said, praying fervently that would be so. "She just needs a bit—she'll be fine."

"And it's safer to rest on this side of the river, since it'll be between us and—" Sashi cut off then, glanced at 'Kase. "Those things I'm not allowed to talk about."

'Kase nodded. "Exactly. And if you bring them up again, I'm throwing you over the waterfall."

"Now see, that's just mean."

'Kase shrugged, drifted back towards the river as Sashi started spearing the fish. They were sizzling in the fire and starting to smell painfully good when 'Kase came back with a flat rock.

"What's the rock for?" Sashi asked.

"Beaning you in the head with," she said, putting it down next to the fire. "Need something flat to slice the fish up on."

"You know, I'm actually not fond of fish," Brittany said, burying the canteen from the All-Mart in the ash so the water could boil.

"Great—more for me."

"I didn't say I wasn't going to eat it."

"And where'd you get a knife?" Sashi asked—flinched back a little when 'Kase waggled her claws at him. "Ah."

"Gotta derive _some_ use out of them," she said. "And by the way, the fish are burning."

Sashi made a sort of _yeep_ noise as he scrambled to get the fish out of the fire.

Tadashi watched, more than a little impressed with the speed in which 'Kase basically ripped the fish into bits. Again, it was only a bite or two for everyone—Grump was willing to munch on the bones and guts, so he ended up with more—but it was a start, it felt like, and Violet _did_ eat when she was coaxed; it was without enthusiasm, the bit of fish sat half-in her beak for a painfully long moment before she finally pulled it in and started chewing, but it was something, at least.

Now here was hoping.

* * *

'Dashi stopped worrying about Violet making it when she started protesting at the continued attention.

At least, that's what it looked like to Nox—'Dashi had been tight and worried for ages and ages ever since Violet fell in the river and that was _bad_ because 'Dashi shouldn't be tight and worried 'Dashi was good and older-brother and safe if 'Dashi was worried that meant something _bad_ was happening and Violet almost dying was _definitely_ bad.

But Violet was feeling better, was chattering in irritation every time someone warbled _okay-okay-Violet-you-okay?_ She wasn't objecting at not having to wear _clothes_ or getting extra bites of _food_ or having lots of 'Dashi-attention though—she was just tired of everyone acting like she was dead, she said.

Nox felt all his feathers wilf at the thought—the others hadn't been _right there_, hadn't seen her fall into the water from the logs breaking, quick as blinking—there had been swift and immediate terror, not helped by the worry that maybe 'Dashi _wouldn't_ make it and save her—

But she was safe now, which meant that they could stop worrying, and the olders were discussing moving on and how—'Dashi had his _hoodie_ pulled back on, which was frustrating Nox _liked_ grooming 'Dashi's feathers Lena liked grooming 'Dashi's feathers it was important flock important flight thing that reinforced that _this_ was flock _this _was flight and it was _important_. At least they could still do 'Dashi's wings and tail feathers though, those were _especially_ important to _flying_.

Grump was also getting heavily groomed, Grump was easy to groom because he didn't wear _clothes_, Grump was grumbling and mumbling because he didn't _want_ to be groomed, but they were doing so anyway to show they appreciated him and were glad he saved 'Dashi and Violet when the limb went _SNAP_ and they had almost gone over in the roaring water that 'Dashi and the other olders called a _waterfall_.

Nox snuggled close against 'Dashi at that thought, flipping 'Dashi's wing up so he could press in tight under there it was safe in 'Dashi's wings it was warm in 'Dashi's wings nothing could get to him when he was in 'Dashi's wings and the idea that 'Dashi had almost _died_ was awful and made him feel sick-_retch_-ill like how Violet had been for ages after being in the water, _blech_ing up too much water it had been awful all the water and the retching had made her throat tight and raspy and she couldn't get anything out she had been rendered quiet and almost-dead by the water usually she grit her teeth and powered through the _bleh_ feeling but the water had put her out like when Sashi threw sand on _fire_.

"Hey, Nox," 'Dashi greeted. "What are you doing _now?"_

"'Dashi," Nox murmured, burrowing in close—without the _hoodie_ he could get in close and snuggle against the down under his wing but the _hoodie_ was in the way so he had to settle for scrubbing his face against the _hoodie_ that didn't feel quite right when compared with feathers or down but was still soft, maybe a little stiff from dirt and _hoodie_ didn't preen properly like feathers did and that was frustrating.

'Dashi tried reaching around, fingers brushing Nox's crest—Nox stretched a little for the contact, _prumm_ing happily, pushing up against 'Dashi's hip and leg so he could peek above his shoulder down at Violet to whistle _okay-Violet-okay?_

Violet gave him a stern look before going back to nibbling on the strings that came off of 'Dashi's _hoodie_ and were fun to bat at.

"Hey _no_ that's not for eating," 'Dashi said, tugging the string away. "And you gotta wait a minute, they're working on it," he said, when Violet opened her beak wide.

Violet burbled _disappointment_, leaned against 'Dashi's chest with a _content_-sigh.

"Yeah, you're feeling better," 'Dashi said.

"Good," Brittany sighed, laying stretched out on her stomach with Trisha and Taylor grooming her wings feather-preening was soothing and everyone needed it almost losing Violet and 'Dashi had been terrifying. Brittany lifted her head a little, like she was thinking about something. "You know, I don't even know what day it is."

"What?" 'Dashi asked.

"Like what month it is—I figured I missed one semester, but I really have no idea." She tipped her head in _consider-worry-confused_ tone. "I could have missed all the holidays—it could be the middle of next year. My face could be on milk cartons everywhere."

"Do they still do that?" 'Dashi asked. "Faces on milk cartons, I mean—we've gotten little postcards about missing children in the mail and you see posts on Facebook, but I don't know about the milk cartons."

"I'm sure they still do—_my face would still be on Facebook posts_ doesn't have the immediate connotation."

"Yeah, the Facebook post connotation is too broad."

Nox butted his head against 'Dashi's, not quite comprehending what he and Brittany were talking about beyond the underlying _worry-afraid-concerned-missing others_ tone, and it was worrisome and he wasn't sure if he should be _concerned_ or if 'Dashi and Brittany were just feeling down and needed assurance that the rest of them were there, that they were flock were flight and so long as they were all together they were good were safe were _okay_. Why, why _why_ were _words_ so clumsy and awkward and hard to understand?

Violet was in agreement, Violet stretched up to pat a paw against 'Dashi's face. "'Dashi 'Dashi."

"Hey, that was pretty good, Vi," 'Dashi said, ducking his head to her a little. "Can you say _Tadashi? H_ow about _Tah_-dashi—that's my nose, Violet."

Violet chattered her opinion on that—why did most of the olders have _nose _instead of _beak_ beaks were much more useful—reach up and bat at Nox's face when he scratched at it, a little concerned that he too had _nose_ instead of _beak_ but maybe it was like how with the olders Grump was the only one who looked like Grump and 'Kase was the only one who looked like 'Kase so maybe it was that Violet was the only one with purple feathers and long skinny beak he pointed out.

Violet conceded this point, went back to batting at 'Dashi's face.

"_Nose,_ Violet," 'Dashi said, lifting his head a little so she couldn't grab it again, point at her beak. "See? You've got one too."

"No," Violet said, chattering that _she_ had a beak and _beaks_ were not _noses_.

'Dashi considered her, looking like Louie when he was considering whether or not _trick_ was worth it, looked at his paw, claws not as long as they had been Nox couldn't believe that they had to show _'Dashi_ something so basic as _clawing_ at _bark_ that was a good thing a _right_ thing a thing that was good for them but then again 'Dashi didn't run around like they did climbing trees and testing things why why _why_—

"I don't know, I don't know if the _got your nose_ trick will fly here," 'Dashi said to Brittany.

"Fly?" Nox repeated—he knew _that__ word_.

"Oh no—I didn't mean it like that Nox—"

Nox _fwee_d confusion, at 'Dashi saying _fly_ and then body tone going _no no no_—look down at Violet, who looked up at him, chattered that he shouldn't blame _her_ maybe this was new _nest_ even though she had nearly died in the water and she didn't like it here it had _food_ and now they knew that _water_ was dangerous—

Nox looked around, ears pricked—this didn't feel like _nest_—_nest_, he knew, deep deep inside like how he knew how to fly—_nest_ meant _safe_ meant _warm_ meant _dry_ meant _good_—_nest_ was like _cabin,_ where they had stayed ages and ages ago after Della had broken-leg had pain-snap-bend-WRONG—this did not feel _safe-warm-dry-good_. _'Dashi_ felt _safe-warm-dry-good_, but 'Dashi was older-brother and not _nest_.

"What?" 'Dashi asked, looking at him pushing up against 'Dashi's shoulders, fore- and hind-claws digging into _hoodie_. "What are you looking for?"

Nox chittered that question back at him, wishing he knew it in _words_ but seeing it in 'Dashi's body tone all the time—'Dashi was looking for something—maybe safe-nest.

Violet pointed out that if that were the case, they would have stayed at _cabin_ because _cabin_ had been warm been safe been dry been good—there had to be something else they were looking for, and she wasn't sure what it was either.

Nox sighed, slouched against 'Dashi, head resting on his and arms wrapping around his neck and shoulders, claws gripping in to _cling_ and maybe sleep.

"Nox you're killing me," 'Dashi protested.

"Oh grow a spine," Brittany said.

"I had a spine—it collapsed about three kids ago," 'Dashi said, before snickering a little.

"Oh dear, he's cracked."

"No, it's just—you just reminded me of a friend of mine."

"If I remind you of this friend, then I like them already."

"You would—her name's Gogo, she's always telling us to _woman up_ and power through something whenever we start whining or worrying about a project—"

"I _do_ like this girl—keep talking, gets my mind off things."

'Dashi did, tone warm as he talked about _Gogo_, about others with _names_, about Hiro _I ever tell you you remind me of my little brother Hiro?_

Violet _fwee_d, wondered if 'Dashi was looking for others and that's why they weren't staying still.

Nox considered this, wondered aloud why 'Dashi would be looking for others when he had them _they_ were flock were flight and flock and flight was _important_ what could be more important than flock than flight?

Violet wasn't sure, and by then the others had come back Sashi had been teaching the other olders how to recognize the bitter greens and Beth and Sue were herding the others back, 'Kase coming back with plant-food that she was very proud of herself with, Sashi with Huey and Louie and Lena and Webby and Grump, some with _fish_.

Nox chattered in anticipation he wished he could have a fish all to himself wished everyone could but a whole fish would be _so much better_ than one or two bites that did nothing for the gnawing hunger in his stomach he was certain that was why 'Dashi was acting anxious to move on this was not good _nest_-site there was no good food they needed to move on and Nox agreed.

Louie plopped down next to 'Dashi, focused on Violet as Lena and Webby deposited _fish_ by the fire after looking at Sashi—Webby reported that Sashi would _not_ let them eat fish without _fire_ first.

Louie, meanwhile, was very happy to report that he had found _lots_ of good rocks smooth rocks shiny rocks the others agreed there were lots of good rocks on one stretch of river and Louie pulled one out to show Violet.

Violet whistled in appreciation, chattered and chirped excitedly when Louie handed it to her and said it was hers—hugged it tight and turned it over in her claws before rattling her beak and teeth across it experimentally.

"Hey no we don't eat rocks," 'Dashi said, tugging it out of her mouth—she squawked, tugged it back, hugged it close before pointing at her _clothes_ they all agreed the one thing _clothes_ was good for was keeping things in. "Are you ready to get dressed?"

"No," Violet said, considering the rock before digging at the _pockets_ of 'Dashi's _hoodie._

"So now you're putting rocks in my pockets—Vi you get aggravated enough at how long it takes me to get airborne _now_."

Nox whistled and chattered, wanted to see one of the good smooth shiny rocks—Louie hugged his pockets, saying _mine_—Lena pulled out a rock and showed Nox, warbling _yes-good-for you-maybe_. Nox chirped his appreciation, taking the rock before she could change her mind and it _was_ good it was smooth it was shiny and round and fit in his paw perfectly—whistle _question_, to which the others reported that there were _lots_ of rocks like this they pulled out _more_ rocks to compare—

"H_ow_ do you guys even get off the ground?" 'Dashi demanded, making _frustrated_ gesture with his free paw before hooking a finger in Louie's _hoodie_ and ignoring his squawk about _his pockets his_. "Are you telling me you all have _rocks_ in your pockets!?"

They all chattered _yes-yes-yes_ and that those rocks were _theirs_ they weren't sharing those rocks were _theirs_—Webby paused, considering, pulled a rock out to give to 'Dashi, saying that _this_ rock could be 'Dashi's because they appreciated 'Dashi 'Dashi was good was safe was older-brother and safe—

"Thanks," 'Dashi said, tone _confused_ as he accepted the good shiny smooth rock. "Now can we talk about you guys having _rocks_ in your pockets how did you kids not sink when you went swimming how do you even get off the ground?"

Webby crawled into his lap next to Violet, flopping a wing around her and snuggling in and chirping on how they were learning how to catch _fish_ from Sashi which was good even if the river wasn't Webby rasped a muted hiss at _river_ because it was mean—Violet squawked at her to stop bringing that up.

"The kids all have rocks in their pockets," 'Dashi told the other olders as Huey squeezed in next to Violet and Webby—Nox was glad he had gotten in a good spot under 'Dashi's wing was snug and safe and warm and he was safe there nothing could get him there nothing could get him while 'Dashi was here—

"They get real excited about them for some reason," 'Kase said, glancing up from her bickering with Sashi over the plant-food. "Me, personally, I prefer to get excited over gems—a rock from the river isn't going to cut it."

"Gold," Sashi put in.

'Kase considered it. "Okay I'll give you that one."

"_Yes."_ Sashi pumped his fists up, fell back a little before righting himself. Lena chittered at the odd behavior, flipped up 'Dashi's other wing to burrow under and climb up and _cling_, beak resting on his other shoulder.

"Help," 'Dashi said to Beth, who was accepting a rock that Louie was giving her because everything deep inside that said how to fly and how important _nest_ was also said that it was important to keep Sue and Beth happy because they had _authority_ 'Dashi had _authority_ too so did 'Kase but that meant that they should _behave_ and be good and nice and good but the olders were also nice and safe and good and it was warm snuggled here in 'Dashi's wing and he was starting to drift off he didn't want to drift off there was _food_ but he felt good and snug and safe and warm and maybe all he needed to do was close his eyes for a little bit….

* * *

They were finally ready to get going again, except for one thing.

"Violet, you're not running around naked," Tadashi informed her. "Now come on, get your sweater on."

"NO!" Violet shrieked, squirming and flailing in Sashi's grasp. "_No-no-no-no-no—"_

"Sorry Vi, I gotta insist," Tadashi said, rolling up her sweater so he could pull it onto her better. "Hold her still, Sashi."

"Yeah, right," Sashi muttered. "How'd I get stuck with this job again?"

"You lost rock-paper-scissors," Brittany told him, keeping a hold of Webby as she watched. "Now suck it up."

Tadashi managed to catch one of Violet's arms, had her sweater over her head when she suddenly went limp, head and limbs lolling uselessly.

To say they panicked was a _massive_ understatement.

_"Violet!"_ the boys squawked, Brittany sitting up so fast she sent Webby tumbling. Sashi put her down on the ground, Tadashi pulled the sweater off so he could see—

The moment Sashi's hands moved Violet rolled to her stomach and took off.

"_What!?_ Violet you rotter!" Tadashi yelped, bolting after her—ended up tripping and skidding because can we once again go over what a pain bird-feet are when it comes to day-to-day things like _walking?_ And running—forget about it.

"Ugh—Violet—" he started—was cut off when Sashi tripped over him and landed on him.

"You guys are hopeless," Brittany said, maneuvering around them as they struggled upright, looking up the tree that Violet scurried up. "Vi, get down here!"

"NO!" Violet shrieked, clinging to a branch and beating her wings. "No-no-no-no-no—"

_"Violet!"_ Tadashi yelled. "You—yes Webby, tell her to get down—_don'tgouptherewithherno—"_

Too late—Webby was up there with Violet, squawking and chattering and—_no don't hang upside-down!_

_"Beth! Sue!" _Tadashi yelled. _"We need some help here!"_

_"We need an adult!" _Sashi added. "No wait we _are_ adults—_we need adultier adults!"_

"'Adultier'?" Brittany repeated, giving Sashi a look.

"I saw it online. _We need a professional adult!"_

"I'm coming I'm coming!" Sue said, struggling over as fast as she could, Drew tucked under one arm. "What is it—what—" Look up when they pointed. "You girls get down here right now or _else_."

"What does _or else_ entail?" Brittany asked.

"The time-out to end all time-outs."

"That'll work—_no don't come down that fast be careful!"_ Tadashi squawked, hastening to be under Webby and Violet as they scrambled down the tree, rattling off _no-no-no-sorry-no_ as fast as they could. Caught Webby, handed her off to Sashi—caught Violet and held on tight. "Brittany, grab the clothes—and you're not fooling us a second time, Violet."

Violet still threw a major fit at having clothes pulled back on, thrashing and wailing until Sue threatened another time-out, something Tadashi was quick to back up—Violet spent the rest of the time sulking at having to get dressed again.

"There," Tadashi sighed, when the stressful event was finally over. "Doesn't she look good now? What do you say Violet?"

"No," she said, not looking at any of them, expression cross.

"Aw come on, Vi, don't be that way," Tadashi said, adjusting his hold on her. "Look at Webby—she's fine with clothes."

"Mmm," Webby noised noncommittally, scratching at her collar before warbling at Violet and pulling a rock out of her pocket. Violet perked up, accepted the rock handed to her, put it in her pocket.

"There, see?" Sashi asked, pointing at the girls. "That's why they weigh so much."

"I still think you're just overreacting," Brittany said.

"Anyway, the rest of us are ready to go," Sue said. "We'd better hurry before the troops get antsy."

"Are they awake?" Tadashi asked, following her. When she nodded: "Then they're antsy."

"Fair enough."

They followed 'Kase downstream when they met up with the rest of the group, Nox rolling out of his tumble with Louie and Dewey to crawl all over Tadashi before hanging off his back and chirping. They spent the next quarter-hour following the river and struggling to keep the kids from picking up every single rock that caught their fancy.

One thing Tadashi definitely noticed, as they got closer to the roaring waterfall, was that the kids got steadily more subdued, pressing closer to the rest of them, specifically Tadashi and Grump. He would have laughed at the poor griffin plodding along with half-a-dozen kids clinging to him and a resting _done_ face on, except he wasn't doing much better. Violet specifically, he noticed, was clinging tight and burrowing against his chest, keeping a worried eye on the water and chirping every once in a while in concern.

"It's okay girl," Tadashi said, rubbing her head. "We're not going swimming today."

"Nope," 'Kase said, hopping up onto the rocks. "We're flying today—nice, easy flight."

In Tadashi's opinion, flying was never _nice_ or _easy_—the only ones who seemed to have no problem with getting airborne, aside from the kids, were Grump, 'Kase, and Brittany. Grump, he suspected was from the same wiring the kids had; 'Kase, he didn't know; Brittany, as he said before, sheer spite.

But even knowing he wasn't going in that water, the sound and sight of the waterfall, of the mist rising up from the drop, made his feathers plaster against himself (a sensation that was always weird). Carefully picking his way up to where Grump had pulled him and Violet out of the water made his limbs tremble, even though he logically _knew_ there was no reason to feel that way.

Or maybe there was, he decided upon reaching the edge and seeing the height that he and Violet had nearly fallen—and knowing he was about to willingly throw himself off it.

"Okay," Sashi squeaked, staring down what had to be a fifty-foot drop, clinging tightly to Drew clinging tightly to him. "So—so what we have here is sort of a sheer-drop situation—no having to power up, just—just gently glide, go from there."

"And you're telling us all how to do this _why?"_ 'Kase asked him.

"I told you all, I process things I'm uncomfortable with by talking about it too much."

"Keep talking—that's putting me in the mood to jump off a cliff," Brittany said, adjusting her hold on Harry and ignoring the light swat to the shoulder Beth gave her.

"Honestly _you all_," 'Kase muttered, bouncing once lightly before powering into the sky and soaring around lazily. "There's like zero effort in this takeoff, there's no powering straight up like we usually do, _get over it."_

Brittany steeled herself, crouched down, launched herself into the air, flapping twice to get herself away from the cliff and up a little. Several of the kids whistled, followed shortly after.

"'Dashi yes," Nox chirped, slipping off of Tadashi's back and scurrying around, peering over the edge of the cliff before coming back to bounce around him. "'Dashi yes fly 'Dashi—"

"I just want to make sure everyone else gets up first," Tadashi told him. "It's a thing." Pat Violet on the head. "So you really shouldn't have any complaints about my takeoff today."

Violet warbled quietly, still staring at the waterfall.

"Hey," Tadashi said, rubbing her head—the kids seemed to like that. "We're not going swimming, we're going flying, in about two minutes we're going to be putting a _ton_ of space between us and that waterfall, you never have to look at it again, okay?"

"Okay," Violet repeated, burying her face against his chest and squinching her eyes shut. "Okay…okay…."

"Good girl." Gingerly spread his wings, look around to see everyone else in the air—lift—

"'Dashi—Dashi-Dashi-Dashi!" Nox chirped, down on all fours—lean back, wings up and out—jump forward, wings beating down—circle around. "'Dashi fly _YES—"_

"I don't fly well under pressure, Nox," Tadashi tried, waving him off—crouch down, lean back—commit to the idea that he was jumping off a cliff—

_Breathe, focus,_ he told himself. _Forward, flap—it's easy, like 'Kase said._

Very easy—there was a stomach-turning moment, when his feet left the ground and he went sailing over the sheer drop, but after the first flap—after whatever wiring was responsible for his wings working kicked in, he was fine. Violet whistled happily as they got organized, as they headed due west, following the ridge—perfect weather for flying, easy flaps leading into long periods of gliding, no effort whatsoever. They'd make good time, make up for the past several days.

So why didn't he feel happy about this?

The flying, he realized—the fact that it was getting easier, that it took less thought once he got going…the fact that he felt _good_ flying, that all the muscles in his back, wings and tail (he hated thinking about that) ached in _just_ the right way after flying—that he knew for a fact that he'd miss flying dearly once he was back to normal, that a part of him would never be satisfied with a normal life now.

_If a normal life was waiting for him._

No—he flapped harder a few times, trying to drive that thought from his head. He wouldn't give that thought weight—it was a rock in his pocket, and he was simply going to let it fall to the ground as he flew away.

If only it were that simple.


	14. Gives Me a Creeps

**Chapter 14, everybody! In which we get another reference to ****_Homeward Bound_****…the chapter title is the name of one of the tracks in the score.**

**Actually Sashi, it's Tuesday—pretty sure I wrote that on a Thursday though. Also, not sure if I mentioned this before, but Grump's feathers are based on my black silkie chicken—that means his feathers look like a combo of feathers and fur, are silky and soft, and hate the mud. ^^**

**In other news, despite what the media shows, most predators will avoid a fight or confrontation since they need to stay in good health to hunt—if there's a chance they'll be injured, they usually go with the ****_discretion is the better half of valor_**** route. It's why you're supposed to be big and scary when you're faced with a bear, but let's take a moment to remind you to avoid being places where there's bears to begin with. Or coyotes, or wolves….**

**And once again, this chapter has been brought to you by Calgon—****_Calgon take me away!_**** From the wildlife I think everyone involved is sick of roughing it.**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Yes! :D And yes, the kids are all allergic to clothes (they get in the way of ****_PREENING!_**** Preening is important!). And…I actually hadn't given too much thought to that—it was something the kids did and I figured it was magpie tendencies, but it makes sense they view the rocks as toys! *stamps idea* ****_Canon!_**** :D**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

**Homeward Bound © 1993 Buena Vista Pictures (technically Disney)**

They had flown until the setting sun threatened to blind them, even with them angling north—'Kase found a clearing, they all settled down in it, Grump grumbling at the bird-kids settling in on top of him.

"How's it feel to be Mr. Popular?" Tadashi asked him, earning a huff in his general direction.

"Dah-_shiii,"_ Nox whined, landing on Tadashi's back and making him stagger, wings out. "'Dashi _fly_ yes no _fwee_ fly yes fly—"

"You know, some of us wouldn't mind getting some _sleep_," Tadashi told him, easing Violet down so she could run around a little—she immediately bolted, tackled Webby, both of them rolling and making noises that _sounded_ happy. "We can fly some more tomorrow, okay?"

"NO fly mrrr fly _WRRROW_ fly yes fly '_Dashi_—"

"You're hopeless," he sighed, working Nox around so he could catch him and hug him close. "Tomorrow, okay? You can sleep a little tonight."

Nox wailed, flipped back so Tadashi stumbled forward, flared his wings and squawked.

"Ah-_ha,"_ Tadashi noised, before flipping Nox's sweater up and blowing a raspberry on his stomach—again, feathers got in the way, but it got the expected reaction: Nox squealed, squirmed free, bolted for Lena, chittering and chattering before hiding behind her and hissing.

"Yay for me, I bought myself like a minute's worth of peace," Tadashi mock-cheered, arms spread.

"You learn to appreciate those minutes," Beth told him, herding some of the younger bird-kids into a tighter circle so she could keep a better eye on them.

"I bet," Tadashi said, padding over to 'Kase, who had touched down again after doing a sweep of the area. "How much farther, you think?"

"I think we might be destined to hit populated areas soon," she said, hands on her hips, then crossed her arms when that pose apparently felt awkward (it looked awkward). "What's your plan for handling that, oh fearless leader?"

"I am neither fearless nor leader—you all just keep looking at me for some reason."

"You made the mistake of looking like you knew what you were doing," Sue told him.

"So _that_ was the problem."

"Moving on," 'Kase said. "Towns, cities, highways—plans for those?"

Tadashi scratched at his neck—winced at the claws—dangit, he'd have to work on them again. "I guess fly around them, probably fly at night. My only concern is accidentally landing in someone's backyard."

"I suppose that'd be awkward if you play it wrong."

"There's a right way to play it?"

"_Hi we're here for the barbecue was that this week or next week?"_

"If we could have, we would have brought green bean casserole," Beth said.

Tadashi took a moment to picture the absolute chaos that the kids would be at a barbecue. "Maybe we'll wait on that until _after_ the kids learn table manners. Or, you know, manners in general."

"Hmm," 'Kase noised, turning to eye Sashi and Brittany building a fire. "Well since the prep-kid is busy, I'll try finding something edible—extra-bitter dandelion leaves, right? Those are your favorite?"

"Why don't you try finding a fast-food place or something?" Tadashi said. "I swear we get back to civilization, I ever have a salad with dandelion greens in it I'll throw it across the room."

"So then it'd be tossed salad," 'Kase mused, picking her way through the greenery.

"Ha ha, you're not funny," Tadashi muttered, turning to focus on keeping the kids out of trouble—which was a tall order any day of the week.

What day was it, anyway?

"Darn it, Brittany," Tadashi said, arms crossed as he looked at her. "Now you've got _me_ wondering."

"What?" she asked, looking over from whatever Sashi was discussing with her—Huey was currently clinging to Sashi's back and making a lot of noise.

"What day it is."

"It's awful when that sticks in you, isn't it?"

"I'll say it's Thursday," Sashi suggested. "Nice arbitrary day, gives you a starting point. Plus it's easier to spell than Wednesday."

"That's your criteria?"

"It's important criteria."

Tadashi sighed, was quickly preoccupied with kids tackling him and chirping and squawking, had to deal with hyperactive kids that still wanted to fly until 'Kase came back. Half-listened to her and Sashi argue about what was edible or not, was more than grateful when everyone bedded down to sleep.

Grump huffed when he curled up near the big griffin.

"Oh hush," Tadashi muttered. "If I have to put up with kids flopping on me you can handle people sleeping in your airspace. Hi Nox," he added, when the first bird-kid crawled over him.

"'Dashi," Nox greeted. "Dashi-Dashi-Dashi—"

"Dah-shi."

"And Violet," Tadashi added, lifting his head a little to see the smaller bird-kid climb over. "Two would be a vacation—don't start," he said, when Nox and Violet started bickering about who would sleep where. "You two are better behaved than that, right? Right."

They whistled quietly at that, expressions questionable in the dim lighting, but they agreed on sleeping arrangements shortly afterwards, Violet tucked between Tadashi and Nox, Nox with a wing over her. Tadashi draped an arm over them both, listened as the sounds of the camp wound down….

Eventually fell asleep himself.

* * *

Nox startled awake without a clear concept of _why_ he did.

He was currently curled up against 'Dashi's chest, one arm draped over him—it was safe here, nothing could get him, 'Dashi was good and safe and older-brother—snuggle in closer, hiss weakly at the _hoodie_, Nox had liked it in the _cabin_ where they didn't have _clothes_ and you could just snuggle in close to the feathers. Grump, who they were curled up against, didn't _have_ to wear _clothes,_ Grump could be all feathers with no fuss, and if he wasn't so mean and grumpy all the time he'd be very nice to snuggle against.

Maybe he had a bad dream—those happened, especially when he wasn't snuggled against 'Dashi, 'Dashi was good and safe and kept the bad dreams away—snuggle closer, whimper deep in his throat—his feathers were wanting to stand up and wilf down and he wasn't sure _why_—

Head shot up, ears pricked—he heard something moving in the woods.

"'Dashi," he hissed, pawing at 'Dashi's face and shoulders. "_Daaah-shiiii…."_ Why had they left the _cabin_, the _cabin_ had been nice and warm and safe and had _food_ and was dry-dry-dry and they didn't have to worry about anything in there except getting bored-bored-bored and just because he missed flying he needed flying like he needed air needed 'Dashi that didn't mean he didn't like the idea of a safe-nest to return to at night he hadn't quite realized just how nice a safe-nest was how warm and safe and soft and good for sleep it was _'DASHI—_

"Mmmph…what?" 'Dashi muttered, waking up, propping himself up on an arm to look with squinty sleepy eyes, confused. "What is it?"

"'Dashi," Nox whispered, curling in close, scanning what he could see of the woods. Maybe it was nothing—maybe it was a _small_ something, like the little things they startled out of trees sometimes that would fall to the ground with _thump_ and then scurry up the next tree chittering _anger_ at them—

_Rustle_—

"'Dashiiiii," Nox whined, trying to keep his whimper deep-in and muted—he didn't know what it was, but he didn't _want_ to know everything in him was telling him that was bad-bad-no good-_bad_—

'Dashi heard it too, 'Dashi rolled over and thumped Grump in the wing. "Grump, wake up."

Grump mumbled something and moved his head, not wanting to get up—Nox glanced around again, picking out all the others something wouldn't _attack_ with all the others here they were safe together they were flock were flight—saw Lena looking at him with wide eyes, Webby under a wing—small whistle, got them both slinking over, barely over the soft plants on the ground, staying as _shh_-quiet as they could—Violet, curled up next to him, woke up, mumbled a confused warble—gave him an _offended_ look when he went _shh_ at her.

'Dashi thumped on Grump again, tugged on his feather-fur, his ear—finally got him with his head up, grumbling—Lena settled down between Webby and Violet, wings draped over them, Webby whisper-warbling _question_—

Grump's attention suddenly snapped to a point—_snarl_—

Everyone froze, tucked in tight—'Dashi sat up, looking, mouthing without noise in the way that said he was making sure everyone was here was safe—

Grump jolted to his feet, growling, feather-fur on end, wings coming _up_ and _out_ in _threatening_—snarl—charge—stop, wings fully out, roar—

Nox heard several somethings scurrying away, yipping and whining in _scary-not worth it-afraid_ tones.

"What? What is it?" Sashi blurted, sounding like he was scrambling up. "Another bear?"

"What did I tell you about bringing that up?" 'Kase demanded, tone _startled-awake._

Nox looked up at 'Dashi, saw him shake his head even as he kept looking for _threat_. "Sounded like a bunch of little things—not _that_ little, but it certainly wasn't a bear."

Murmuring—discussing—

"Coyotes," Sashi posed. "Or wolves."

"Great," 'Dashi muttered, as Grump snorted, folded and ruffled his wings, came padding back to flop down in the spot he had been sleeping in with a _hrrf_. "I take it they're gone now?"

Grump went grumble-rrrff _annoyed-angry-woke up-bleh_, shuffled around a little until he was in _comfortable_ spot but didn't go back to sleep, ears pricked now. Nox whistled and warbled at him, was told to _shut up_.

Nox didn't take it personal; Grump was always mean and huffy and grumpy to everybody. Nox also suspected that Grump really _did_ like them, because he stayed instead of leaving like the others did ages and ages and ages ago.

Those others—Nox didn't give them much thought, they were vague blurry fuzzies of _remember_, _not important_ because them being here or not had no impact on Nox—they were _not important_, 'Dashi was, 'Dashi was good and safe and older-brother—

'Dashi was sitting up awake now, leaning against Grump's haunch and keeping an eye out against _coyotes-or-wolves_, whatever that was—it had sounded threatening and snuffling and sniffing and hungry but it was gone now they were good and safe and good—

Violet snuggled closer, Lena snuggled closer, Webby snuggled closer—Nox pressed against 'Dashi's side, thought about climbing into his lap to sleep but Lena spread her wing so she was covering him too and this was warm and safe and good and he had no complaints this was good….

Quiet whistle and _cheep_ and squeak, mumbling a little…checking to make sure everyone was good and safe and here…soft echoings from the others, reporting _here-good-here-you-good-here-good_ and that the olders were all there too—everyone important was here, they were safe they were good they were flock were flight and nothing bad was going to happen to them so long as they were all together.

"Good kids," 'Dashi muttered. "Go back to sleep."

That sounded like a good idea. Mumble, snuggle closer….

Eventually drift off, warm and happy. 'Dashi was good, 'Dashi was safe….

None of them had anything to worry about so long as 'Dashi was here.

* * *

Everyone was more than willing to fly some more the next morning—especially after the scare the night before.

"'Dashi!" Nox cheered, bouncing in front of him. "'Dashi _fly_ 'Dashi—"

"Yeah, yeah," Tadashi yawned, rubbing his face—he hadn't gotten any sleep after their scare last night. "I told you we would."

"'Dashi _fly_ 'Dashi yes yes 'Dashi—"

"'Dashi is _really_ missing the horseshoe coffee," Tadashi muttered, staggering upright and picking up Violet. "Bear with me if I run smack into a tree, okay Vi?"

Violet's expression suggested that she'd be judging him harshly if he ran into a tree.

"Okay, that expression is a mood," Brittany said, walking by to put Drew on a grumbling Grump.

"Lack of sleep is too," Sashi muttered. "We get home, I'm spending the first week just eating and sleeping. Right after a _super_-long shower. May have to get the power-washer out to get all the dirt off."

"I'm taking a nice long soak in a Calgon bath," Beth said. "And _then_ I'll sleep for a year."

"My plan is to eat my aunt out of house and home," Tadashi said, closing his eyes, trying to alleviate the scratchiness plaguing them. "Probably collapse on the couch—not sure I'd make it to the bed."

"I'm going to hug all my kids," Sue said. "And then tell them that mommy needs a long soak and a longer nap."

"I love how everyone's plans are basically _eat, sleep, and bathe_," 'Kase observed.

"They're good plans," Tadashi insisted. "Also a good plan: getting out of here. Is everyone ready?"

Everyone was, although it took another ten minutes to get airborne. Violet was chittering her disdain when Tadashi finally got above the trees.

"Hey, they're _tall_, okay?" he asked her.

Violet's general attitude suggested that was no excuse, but at least he had something to focus on now. Namely, not dropping out of the sky from exhaustion.

But he could do it—every wingbeat got him closer, every wingbeat was that much closer to getting home and achieving his goal. Forget the main worry—that there was nothing waiting for him—just focus on the positive, that they'd get there.

It made him feel a little lighter, at least.


	15. Name-Calling

**Chapter 15, everybody! Wow, we're making some headway….**

**Kind of have some references to _Homeward Bound_ and the first _Land Before Time_ movie in this chapter—been listening to those two movies' soundtracks while working on this story. And no, Tadashi, you never get on the level of animals or kids. Or bird-kids.**

**Also, Louie has some things to work through and Nox doesn't like being called names.**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Ahaha I'm glad you liked that exchange! And yes, frame it too! :D Glad you enjoy! :D**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

**Homeward Bound © 1993 Buena Vista Pictures (technically Disney)**

**Land Before Time © 1988 Don Bluth**

"Okay," Tadashi said, settling down and bracing himself for more aggravation. "So. Say my name. Is my name Tadashi? Huh? _Tadashi? Ta-da-shi?"_

"'Dashi," Nox declared staunchly. "'Dashi-Dashi-Dashi—"

"Thank you Nox. What about Webby? Can Webby say _Tadashi?"_

"'Dashi!" Webby declared happily, pointing at him.

"Gasp! That's right, that _is_ me! What about you? Are you Webby?"

"Wrr," Webby noised, pointing at herself.

"Okay so maybe I should have thought of this—you're Webby. Can you say _Webby?"_

"Wbbffth."

"No, you want an _ee_ sound at the end. _Web. Bee."_

"WAB-_eeeee."_

"WEB-_bee."_

"WEB-_eee."_

"Hey that's right!" Tadashi gasped, hands out. "That's right you did it!"

Webby shrieked in alarm at him leaping to his feet and scooping her up, switched to shrieking in joy as he spun her around. "All right Webby!" he cheered, Nox bounding around them—looked around, ran for the first person he could tell.

"Webby can say her name," he told Beth, Webby leaning back and hanging upside-down from his grasp, chirping and whistling at the older woman. "Can you tell Beth? Say _Webby!"_

"Waah-bee," Webby noised, pawing at Mei.

"Yeah no she had it," Tadashi insisted, righting her and putting her on the ground, crouching next to her. "Say _Webby—Web. Bee."_

"Weh-bee."

"Okay we'll work on that but that was _really_ close," Tadashi said, rubbing her head. Webby trilled happily in response.

"'Dashi," Nox noised, climbing up his back. "'Dashi-Dashi-Dashi—"

"I bet Mei can say her name too—what do you say, Mei?" Tadashi asked the little bird-girl, using his free hand to pat around until he connected with Nox, earning something that might have been a purr in a cat.

"Mah," Mei noised.

"Oh goodness she can—that was great, Mei!"

Beth was laughing. "It's a shame you don't want kids."

"This may cure me of that," Tadashi told her, leaning forward a little as Nox climbed further onto his back. "I mean, regular kids might be slower, but at the same time I'm too young to have gray hair—I don't care _how_ experienced it makes me look."

"You do need time to be a kid yourself," she agreed. "But after that you should give it some thought."

"She's plotting against me," he told Nox in an aside—looked down at Webby flopping down in his lap. "Aren't you a smart girl, learning a new word."

"'Dashi," she noised, pawing at him. "Weh-bee." Point at Mei. "Meih."

"That's right—you're on a roll today!" Point at Beth. "Beth."

"Btth."

"There's an _e_ in there Webby—_Beth."_

"Beeeeth!"

Beth had to prop herself up to keep from keeling over laughing.

"Uh, yeah, wrong _e,_" Tadashi said. "The _e_ in _Beth_ is more like _eh—Beth."_

"Beh-thh."

"That is close enough!" he declared, hugging her close. "Mostly because I think we're killing Beth here."

Beth waved him off, still giggling, Mei pawing at her and sounding concerned.

"Mah," Mei noised, looking at Beth, Tadashi, Beth, Tadashi again. "Dsshi mah kiii—"

"That was really good, Mei," Tadashi told her. "I actually got all of that. Or at least most of it."

Webby pawed at his face, pointed at Beth when he looked at her. "Beh-eth—okay? Yes okay?"

"What? Yes she's fine—she just heard something funny."

"I'm sorry Webby," Beth said, touching her shoulder. "That was just funny."

Tadashi waited until she was almost wound down. "Beeth."

The kids were all very concerned at the adults laughing so hard they couldn't breathe.

* * *

"Okay, say my name—is my name _Tadashi?"_

"'Dashi—Dashi-Dashi-Dashi—"

"Thank you, Nox, I'm glad _you_ know it—how about Louie? Can Louie say _Tadashi?"_

Nox wasn't sure, Louie was too busy squawking and complaining about how much he hated _words_ and hated having to learn _words_ why couldn't the olders learn _their_ language it was so much easier and said so much more and worked _so much better_ WHY.

"Come on, Louie—three syllables," Tadashi begged. "Three little syllables and I'll let you go on your way. _Ta-da-shi."_

Lena whistled _careful-trick-careful_, 'Dashi had told _her_ that too and she ended up with _BPPBBTH_ to her belly and that was SQUAWK and _surprise_ and not all-the-way fun but kind of fun in the shriek-_NO_ way—

Louie still squawked about learning _words_, squawked at Huey and Webby for trying to explain the _good-okay-yes_ part of learning _words_, he wanted to complain about it okay he didn't see the point of it all—

Dewey warbled that he didn't either, but Louie might as well humor 'Dashi and get out fast.

Louie ground his beak—it was something the others could do that Nox wished he could do—finally mumbled something that _might_ have sounded like _T'hh-dhh-shii._

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear that one," 'Dashi said, scootching a little closer and hunching forward, body tone _listening-what-hear-listen._ "Could you repeat that? _Ta-da-shi."_

"T'hh-dhh-shhiii," Louie mumbled, a bit louder, body tone saying _don't want-no-no-no-HATE IT-no-don't want this-no_—was looking away from 'Dashi, missed his body tone shift from _listen-hear-what_ to _pounce-snatch-grab—_

Nox nudged Webby before she could squawk a warning, making eye contact with Lena—she grinned, flopped her wings on Huey and Dewey so they couldn't make _warning-_noises—

So Louie was caught completely by surprise when 'Dashi grabbed him and scooped him up, hugging him close and ignoring his startled SQUAWK—Louie pulled his legs up, trying to protect his belly from _BPPBBTH—_

'Dashi flopped down on his back, Louie still hugged to his chest, legs curled up and rolling a little, squawking how _"I gotcha! Now what?"_ Nox bounced forward—this was new _play_, 'Dashi was playing and usually he just watched and kept them _safe_ 'Dashi was good and safe and older-brother and safe but now he was playing _yes_—

Tackle 'Dashi around the shoulders, trying to scrabble around Louie—Webby _pounced_ on him next, Huey and Dewey charging and screaming how they'd save Louie _AAAAAAH—_

"Oh no—oh no _aaah no it's too much!"_ 'Dashi squawked, managing to catch Huey and Louie with his feet but not sweeping his tail to keep Lena at bay—"Aaah they're everywhere they're everywhere they're—_Violet."_

This because Violet's plan of attack involved her flopping down on 'Dashi's face, and all his other paws were involved in either keeping Louie pinned or the rest of them off of him—completely missed Della hobbling up, the others engaging in false _swipes_ and squawks and tackles and giving her enough time to flop down and wriggle under the arm pinning Louie—try pushing up—

Tighten, pinning them both—Della and Louie squawked, tails flopping, Louie the only one able to kick out properly Della's leg was still bound and _broken_ even ages and ages after the _pain-snap-bend-WRONG_—

"Okay, who do I got?" 'Dashi asked, managing to get Violet off his face. "Della!? No Della your leg—"

Della squawked _defiance_ and _win_—'Dashi was worried about her leg so he'd have to let go and if he let go then Louie went free too _keep with pinning don't let him up no-no-no-no—_

'Dashi finally did let go, 'Dashi was worried about Della's leg 'Dashi had been terrified of the _pain-snap-bend-WRONG_ too 'Dashi was always fussing over her leg he'd be worried about causing it more _hurt_—

Louie immediately scampered away, Della slipping out of 'Dashi's hold and cheering how nothing could stop her before squawking _ATTACK!—_

_"Hey!_ Now wait a minute, no fair—this is seven against one these are _sucky_ odds!" 'Dashi protested, now under their concentrated assault—he couldn't keep all of them off—and then Lena dodged back and forward, slipped into an opening and started with the poking—

"Gyee_AAHAHA stop stop stop!"_ 'Dashi squawked, now balled up and trying to protect himself from the poking. _"I give I give stohahahahp!"_

Lena cheered _WIN_ and they all flopped on 'Dashi, pinning him, cheering and hugging and thrilled at the _win_ at _play_—

"'K-Kase, help," 'Dashi wheezed.

"You got yourself into that mess, y'think I want to help you get out of it?" 'Kase asked, not moving from her perch.

"And here I thought we had something special."

"You thought wrong, bird-boy."

"'Dashi," Nox said happily, squished down between 'Dashi's chest and several of the others, chin resting on 'Dashi's collarbones, feeling nice and warm and safe and happy _yes win—_

"Yeah, I love you too," 'Dashi said, voice strained from the concentrated squishing. "I'd love you all better if you weren't all flopped on me."

"Yeh-luff," Nox mimicked, 'Dashi liked it when you mimicked _words_ even when you didn't get it or know what the _word_ was, the others chittering and discussing whether or not they wanted to move this was 'Dashi and they had just had _win_ over him and there was other _play_ but still—

Dewey solved it first by wriggling out from the pile, chirruping and warbling about finding Louie Louie had run off to sulk away from 'Dashi Louie didn't like it when his feathers got ruffled—Huey followed, then Webby, until finally it was just Nox splayed on 'Dashi's chest.

_"OOOH thank you,"_ 'Dashi heaved, chest rising and lifting Nox up, causing him to giggle and chirp. "And what about you?" 'Dashi asked, poking. "Go run off and play."

That was a good idea, but this was 'Dashi and 'Dashi was good and older-brother and safe and he liked it here maybe in a little bit but right now Nox very much liked where he was and said so with chirps and warbles here was nice here was safe and warm and 'Dashi and 'Dashi was good and safe—

Lena flopped back down on 'Dashi and Nox, making 'Dashi go _woosh_ and groan.

_My 'Dashi,_ Lena chirped, giving Nox a _teasing-mock_ look—_my 'Dashi mine._

Nox squawked back, no-no-no this was _his _'Dashi 'Dashi was _his_ and he was NOT sharing, trying to look stern and grumpy but feeling his tail go _twitch_ and give it away—_still my 'Dashi mine._

"You two had better not be arguing again," 'Dashi said, trying to struggle free _no-no-no_ the pin-'Dashi game was fun they needed to do it again—

They both chirped _no-no-no,_ crawling all over 'Dashi before remembering the _teasing-mock_ fun of the other game and going _yes-yes-yes _and squawking and squealing at each other, clinging tight to 'Dashi _mine-mine-mine_ not yours _mine_—Nox had to finally roll off and squawk defeat when Lena started with the poking again Lena always seemed to know right where all the tickle-spots were—

Lena cheered _WIN_ again, glomped onto 'Dashi's back when he sat up. "My 'Dashi mine!"

"No!" Nox squawked, quickly scrambling upright and crawling onto 'Dashi's lap—"My 'Dashi mine!"

"Guys, we talked about this," 'Dashi sighed, voice and body tone saying _tired-woo-tired._ Lena and Nox made apologetic and _getting-along_ warbles—

Made eye contact over 'Dashi's shoulder….

'Dashi went down squawking again, Nox keeping him busy as Lena scrambled to poke until he once again squawked defeat, at which point they flopped on him—

Yes, the pin-'Dashi game was a fun one indeed.

* * *

'Dashi had finally had enough, 'Dashi had insisted they go play with the others—Lena bounded away, squawking for Nox to follow-follow-follow—

It was where 'Kase could see them—that was the _rule_, the one 'Dashi insisted on, that they never play where one of the olders couldn't see—sometimes that _rule_ felt like feather-tugging. Other times there was _bear_ and none of them could argue that they much rather wanted 'Dashi keeping an eye on them and keeping them safe 'Dashi was good and older-brother and safe and the other olders were good too but 'Dashi was older-brother and safe 'Dashi had gotten them out of the bad-place and never let them stay anyplace that was bad-no good-bad—

Huey and Dewey had found Louie, were chirping into a stump that had grumpy warbles echoing back out—Lena whistled _question_, Webby explained that Louie was playing Grump but she and Violet and Della were going to explore a _different-smell_ Violet had smelled something like water so they were going to find it—

Nox chirruped _want_ and _me go too let me yes good yes please want_—back end skittering a little before bounding the rest of the way to the stump, flapping his wings and going bound-bound-bound and warbling _yes go we go all go fun—_

Dewey reported that Louie was not done playing Grump and being _mad-upset_ at having to learn _words_, Louie poked his head out to squawk how it was _not fair_, he didn't like learning _words_ let him sulk in peace he wanted to be grumbly for a while was that too much to ask _Huey stop telling him about how words were useful he DIDN'T WANT TO HEAR IT._

Nox flicked one ear, flicked the other, chirruped that going to explore _different-smell_ would be _distracting_ and then he wouldn't _have_ to sulk for a while he could just have _fun_ instead of playing Grump playing Grump was fun in a _mock-tease_ way but it wasn't _exploring_ fun—

Louie squawked at him to _shut up_, he JUST SAID what he was going to do, he didn't need anyone telling him _words_ were good he didn't need anyone telling him to stop being grumpy he didn't need anyone telling him what to do so _GO AWAY, you stupid bald-face no-beak!_

Nox flinched back—their way of communication worked so much better than _words_ but it also meant that what you said was what you said and yes Nox had a bald _face_ with no beak but Louie said it like _mean-mad-angry_ and it felt like someone yanked a feather out it _hurt_—

It hurt because it was _true_, it hurt because it was a _not-lie_, it hurt for a lot of reasons that Nox wasn't entirely sure of but it _hurt._

Webby squawked at Louie for saying a _mean_ but she sounded like she was far away—Dewey and Huey looked _mad_ for Nox at Louie, Louie looked like he might maybe have _regret_ for what he said—

All this in only a few heartbeats thudding loudly in Nox's ears, drowning out everything else throwing how he saw everything off heard everything off everything off—

Dewey and Huey flailed back shrieking in alarm, Louie went _SQUAWK_ and ducked back into the stump as Nox slammed into it, ripping it apart with his claws in a frenzy and shrieking _TAKE IT BACK!—_

_NO! _Louie shrieked, kicking out and slashing with all four paws as he tried to find a new way out—someone hit Nox in the side hard, rolling him sideways—bounce up, dodge around Webby to slam into the stump again just as Louie was trying to escape, still shrieking _anger-surprise hurt-pain-YOU—_

This hit crunched through the stump—Louie slipped out ahead of Nox's claws—Nox scrambled after him—Huey and Dewey crashed on top of Nox, shrieking _NO-NO-NO—_

Violet and Lena rolled Louie, squawking that he had said a _mean_ and that was _not-nice_ and _apologize NOW_, Webby scrabbling back and forth and trying to get them all to _STOP_, Della squawking and beating her wings because this was _NOT_ the plan they were _RUINING IT STOP IT—_

Nox finally squirmed free, ran for Louie, tackled him _hard_—Louie squawked, swung his paws around and started clawing—everyone piling on to get them to _stop-NO-STOP—_

_"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?"_

Everyone froze at that, looked up—'Dashi was there, 'Dashi was there looking _surprised_ and _stunned_ and then _ANGRY_ 'Dashi was _NOT HAPPY_—

None of the olders looked happy, some of the youngers leaning around to whistle _confusion_, ears pinned back—

_No fighting_—that was one of the BIG _rules_—

No amount of _sorry-sorry-no-sorry_'s was going to save them from _time-out _this time.


	16. The Edge of the Woods

**Chapter 16, everybody! A bit of a breather chapter, but we need it. Also, title-drop time again! :D**

**In other news, I have not nor do I intend to watch _The Walking Dead_—sorry all, zombie flicks don't do it for me. *shrug***

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! No it's not, and no you can't. And I know, right? He's always so even-keeled throughout the movie and I seriously can't recall him actually ever yelling—he's just not cut out for roughing it. Thank you, I hope you enjoy this one too! :D**

**Hexyah, thanks for the reviews! No, from what I've heard it's painful (especially considering bones are designed to take our weight and not break easily). And _I'm sorry I made you cry! D:_ *sends digital tissues* She's something else, isn't she? :)**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

"Having fun yet?" Beth asked as Tadashi came over.

"So maybe I don't have a future in the preschool industry," Tadashi said, sitting down next to her. "At least this one's nice though," he added, hunching a little to be more on Mei's level. "Hi Mei—can you say my name? Is my name _Tadashi?"_

Mei squealed and pawed at the air, definitely seeming like she was happy to see him and not revving up for an apoplectic fit like _some_ kids. Plus, one of those squeals _might_ have sounded a _little_ like '_Dashi_, so….

"Gasp—_that's right,"_ he mock-breathed, pointing at Beth. "And who is this? Is this Beth? Is this Beth?"

Mei seemed more interested in gumming on her foot now.

"Ooh, I'm so jealous—don't stop practicing that, Mei, you lose it otherwise."

"Ah, to be limber without cracking," Beth sighed.

"I'm sure the cracking helps with _something_—like spatial relations."

"Mostly I figure it's a sign that something's about to give."

"By that logic I should have been _really_ cracking—do you have any idea how much seven kids actually _weigh?"_

"You take your life into your own hands when you get down on kid level," Beth said, as Drew came over to show how he could fit his whole hand in his mouth. "That's one of the first things parents learn once kids get mobile."

"You know, people don't bring up the hazards of child-rearing," Tadashi said, trying to tug Drew's hand out of his mouth—Drew wasn't having it, putting his other hand in his mouth when Tadashi succeeded. "I mean, I've got a girlfriend, and the statements are generally _aw thinking of the future yet_ or _your kids will be so cute—_they don't bring up _your kids will likely break one of your ribs if you're not careful."_

"If we gave the next generation full disclosure there wouldn't be a generation after that one," Beth said, looking at Trisha tapping her on the arm so she'd watch the summersault Trisha was trying to achieve.

"Nah, not this generation," Tadashi said, finally succeeding on Drew. "You tell them everything and you'll have at least a few who look at that and go _challenge accepted_."

"Maybe we _should_ go with full disclosure," Sue suggested, lifting Harry up so he could kick his feet. "Weed out the weak."

"What?" Sashi asked, looking up from the mushrooms he was roasting (after a long debate with 'Kase that ended with them agreeing that the mushrooms were edible).

"Full disclosure on having kids."

"_NO_—no. I had that discussion, I don't want to know any more."

"Different discussion detailing what comes after that."

"There's _more!?"_

"You're living it right now," Tadashi called over—decided to try rolling on his back again, this time with Drew somewhat-grasped in a foot, lifting him up while keeping a hold on his hands. "Aaah, look at that, Drew's flying!"

Drew shrieked with glee, beating the little fuzzy stubby wings on his back—he was starting to grow in pinfeathers there, hopefully they'd have the gene cleansers before they had to worry about yet _another_ kid flying around. Actually, more than just one, even Mei was starting to get a few pointy stubs.

Speaking of—Mei took the opportunity to crawl onto his chest, pawing the air and kneading his hoodie and making lots of squawks and gurgles that were still at a decibel level to be considered cute, stubby wings spread and featherless tail twitching.

"Oh no, she's got me pinned—_I'm done for,"_ Tadashi gasped, flopping his head back dramatically. "Go on without me—tell them I love them. Tell Auntie 'Em to let Ol' Yeller out…gaah…."

Now Mei was standing on his face, feet still planted on his chest. "Okay, Mei, your nails…."

"Vanquished again?" 'Kase called over.

"My one weakness—little feathery kids."

"Here, I'll save you," Beth offered, picking Mei up—Mei immediately went splay-legged, wings spread as far as she could manage. "Oh there she goes."

"Here, I've got a second one," Tadashi offered, flexing his free foot. "Might as well get some enjoyment out of these."

"I'm just glad I'll be getting rid of them soon," Beth said, putting Mei on his foot and waiting until he had one of her hands in his before letting go. "Every once in a while I find myself thinking about painting my nails and wondering how to get to that back toe."

"Very carefully," Tadashi offered, lifting Mei and Drew a little. "Oh there they go!"

Mei and Drew whistled and cheered, beating their wings a little—barely even stirred up any air, unlike the windstorms the older kids managed on a regular basis.

Speaking of….

"The kids got too quiet," Tadashi observed, as Brittany came by with some sticks for the fire. "Who's watching them?"

"I can still see them," 'Kase offered from her perch in the trees.

"And Grump is too," Brittany said, nodding over to Grump lazing on a half-fallen log that had gotten lodged in another tree.

"Are they behaving?" Tadashi asked.

"If you have to ask, the answer is generally _no,"_ Sue said.

"Great," Tadashi groaned. "Okay, flight's over, thank you for flying Tadashi Airlines, don't forget to collect your luggage on your way out."

Mei and Drew made disappointed noises as they touched ground again, Tadashi having to roll a little to make sure they went down easy.

"I'm sorry, if our flight services displeased you you can always fill out a survey on our website," he told them, ruffling Drew's head-fluff before handing Mei back to Beth.

"I see you've flown before," she observed.

"There was a time it wasn't a chore, right?"

"Yes," Beth sighed, hugging Mei lightly. "But I'm sure you've heard about it being a simpler time in wistful tones before."

"Yes—it was a simpler time, when I only had to worry about my little brother Hiro getting into trouble," Tadashi told her, getting up. "Catch me in a long-winded mood and I'll tell you all about how we got arrested because of him bot-fighting."

"Ooh, tell me now," Sashi said, looking around.

"Later, Sashi—I have to check on the kids before they get into—"

A shriek suddenly ripped through the air, followed by a ton of squawking—Tadashi jumped, sprang forwards, hat getting knocked askew in the brush—

To find the kids in the middle of a tangled mess of a fight.

_"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?"_

All the kids immediately went stock-still at his bellow, looked at him—

This was going to be a mess.

* * *

'Dashi had made them all sit in _time-out_, had them sitting against trees with their noses against the bark, was pacing up and down the length of them and making _lecture_ about how _no-no-no no fighting no fighting was BAD—_

Nox wasn't paying attention, Nox was sitting there forehead itchy from resting against _bark_ but he didn't care he was sitting there hugging his knees to him and wings loose and limp and tail curled up and trying very hard not to let the burning _sad_ out but it was there he couldn't help it—

Lena glanced at him, head resting on the bark too—quietly whistled _hey-you-you-you-okay-no listen-Louie-not right-stupid—_

Nox ignored her—because Louie _was_ right, he _was_ bald-faced and no-beaked, it didn't matter that the olders except 'Kase and Grump didn't have beaks it didn't matter that 'Dashi didn't have a beak didn't even have feathers on his face or most of his neck and shoulders and chest just weird ropey angry red patches that made him flinch when you touched them—none of that mattered, Louie was _right_, and Nox _hated it._

Nox whistled _upset_, throat too tight and making it reedy—the burning _sad_ was attacking his eyes now no stop not now not during _time-out_ time-outs were forever and ever and ever and he wasn't going to cry not now not now not now—

"Are _any_ of you paying attention?" 'Dashi asked. "No, probably not…listen: fighting is _bad,_ got that? No fighting—someone say it."

Webby _aarked_ out_ fighting-bad-no good-bad_ "No-no-no bad-bad-bad no-good bad—"

"I'll take it," 'Dashi sighed. "Okay, fine—time-out's over."

Everyone scattered—Nox sat there, shivering a little now, trying to pull his wings in—no cry no cry no cry—

"Nox?" 'Dashi asked—didn't look heard him sit down next to him—"It's over—time-out's over. Are you okay?"

Hot-salty-wet was starting to leak out of his eyes no he wasn't _okay_ he wanted something he didn't think he was ever going to have and usually that didn't bother him but _now_ it did and he _hated it hated it HATED IT—_

"Here," 'Dashi said, tugging him close after the first sob choked out against his will, hugging him close wings wrapping tugging close—"It's okay, it's okay—you're not hurt, are you? Where does it hurt?"

It hurt deep inside where it didn't make sense for it to hurt but it did but he was _here_ he was safe in 'Dashi's wings 'Dashi was safe and good and older-brother and safe and he shouldn't still be crying burying his face in 'Dashi's _hoodie_ hooking his claws in and hunching up he shouldn't feel this way it was just noise but it still _hurt_—

'Dashi shifted around a bit, rocking and making _shush-okay_ noises one paw massaging his scalp trying to make Nox feel good again but the hurt was still there—

He was starting to relax a little when 'Dashi pulled away a bit—_no-no-no—_ran fingers over some scratches Louie had managed on Nox's face yet another reason why being a bald-faced no-beak was _bad_—

"Let's get that cleaned up, okay?" 'Dashi asked, rooting in his hoodie and pulling a little tin that _rattled_ and would be interesting otherwise—"This'll sting a little."

It did sting, it smelled sharp and _clean-clean_ like the bad-place and it made the scratches burn like they were fresh again but this was 'Dashi he trusted 'Dashi 'Dashi was good and older-brother and _safe_—

'Dashi hugged him close when he finished, making Nox's hiccupping sobs muted in his _hoodie_—

"I don't know what happened," 'Dashi said quietly. "But you guys shouldn't fight—whatever caused it, just don't do it again, okay?"

Nox wasn't able to get anything out resembling _okay_ Nox wished that 'Dashi could _understand_ he didn't know enough _words_ to be able to tell 'Dashi that he wanted to look different he wanted to look like the others why him why did he look like this _WHY_—

It was warm in 'Dashi's wings, it was safe in 'Dashi's wings, 'Dashi was good and safe and older-brother and safe, and it took ages and ages and ages but Nox finally started to loosen up, to relax….

He was wrung out like the olders had done to _clothes_ and _towels_, but being safe and warm in 'Dashi's wings meant he was able to eventually fall asleep. 'Dashi still cared.

'Dashi didn't care if Nox was everything Louie had said.

* * *

"Ah, look at that—the end of the woods! We're home free, right?"

"We would be if we weren't still mostly guessing at our general direction," Tadashi told Sashi, looking over the rocky terrain sprawling below them and stretching towards the horizon—they were still going mostly northwest, he could tell that much. "And I'm not sure about flying over this—there's not a whole lot of cover there."

"And I'm certainly against _walking_ that," Brittany told him. "We'll do it at night like we did the desert—get everyone sleeping good and then take off when the sun goes down."

Tadashi made a pensive noise, considering what he could see of the terrain—if they flew high enough they wouldn't have to worry about running into anything, and they _did_ have better night vision now…probably part of the genetic cocktails those goons had given them—

Or part of the genetic cocktail that had _made_ him.

He tried, he really did, to take 'Kase's advice and just bury those thoughts deep deep down, to ignore them completely—but it was hard. He had given the thought life and now it was dead-set on eating his mind out from under him, infecting every fiber of his being with doubt.

He couldn't afford that—not if he wanted to get everyone out of this safely.

Gusty exhale, deep inhale—

"All right," he said. "So we go back in a little, find a nice spot to get some sleep—we should get a watch rotating so nothing sneaks up on us—"

"I vote myself and Grump," 'Kase said immediately, ignoring Grump's huff.

"And me," Brittany said, before Tadashi could open his mouth. "Nuh-uh, don't you _dare_ volunteer, you look like the walking dead and I am _not_ following you when you crash."

"Seriously?" Tadashi demanded.

"You need sleep," Beth confirmed. "Now follow me—I saw a good clearing a little ways back that I think will work just fine."

"I'm guessing _I'm fine_ isn't going to fly."

"Not even close," Sue told him.

"Let's be real here," Sashi said. "You could _totally_ be an extra on _The Walking Dead_ right now—all you're missing is the shamble."

"He's getting there."

Tadashi rolled his eyes, half-listened to Sashi and Sue's excitement over finding out they watched the same show, ruffled Nox's hair a little, prompting a happy warble.

"And how've you been?" he asked Nox, smiling a little at Nox leaning into him and scooping the little bird-boy up when he tried to climb onto him—he had been subdued for the past several days, ever since that fight. All the kids had, come to think of it, eyeing each other and being much quieter than usual. Everyone had discussed it, nothing about the behavior made sense, even with 'Kase giving the reason.

Name-calling was really a dumb reason for them all to be behaving like this.

The girls were starting to get their old fire back, which was good—he'd give the boys another day or two before he started to worry more strenuously; maybe he'd figure out what was _really_ bothering them by then.

Grump and Sashi scanned the clearing for snakes or other nasty surprises—Grump found something that he smashed and snapped up before anyone could see what it was, finished scanning the clearing before curling up and flopping down in a huff, eyes closed in a _I am sleeping go away_ way—glowered when Trisha climbed on his head and started kneading it.

Grump was probably going to glower at Tadashi flopping against him too, but if he was going to sleep he was going to do it with a halfway-decent pillow—Sashi curled up next to him, muttering about how it was too damp to make a fire without letting everyone know they were here before falling asleep.

"You guys are stealing my watch relief," 'Kase said, once everyone was settled in a curled-up mass of feathers, some of the kids still picking their way around and scrunching down between people they liked.

"Not my fault," Tadashi mumbled. Nox was curled up on his chest, Webby and Lena curled up on either side, snuggled in half-open wings, Lena with Violet tucked in her wings—Grump rumbled something that might have been intended with offense, Tadashi didn't know or care.

'Kase settled in on top of Grump, ears perked as she scanned the area, and the last thought Tadashi had before succumbing to sleep was that Grump really did have surprisingly silky feather-fur.

After that, nothing.


	17. Cat Fight

**Chapter 17, everybody! And once again we get a big fat reference to two of the inspiration movies I have been waiting SO LONG to do this chapter you guys I can't even—**

**Also forgive me I only have the thinnest of ideas of what Californian geography looks like from about five minutes of research for this fic so….Pretty sure Wil E. Coyote operates further southeast from them though. And you can see an illustration for this chapter on my DA page, although I apologize in advance for having to navigate Eclipse. XP**

**And Graboids are totally serious business just ask Kevin Bacon—or my one friend from college, who loved the whole franchise and with whom I had a very animated conversation with about the movies one evening…fun times at a not-so-fun college. ^^**

**And once again, let us bird-nerd: most bird chicks and quite a few animals imprint on the first living thing they see. Unfortunately for these bird-kids, that first thing was…kind of a jerk.**

**And _fulcrum_ is a real word, Louie—and it actually refers to the rock the log is resting on, not the log itself, but oh well. The cougar's reasoning comes from L.K.D. Jenning's book _The Mark of the Conifer_, which is a nice long fantasy read involving dinosaurs.**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Thank you, I'm glad you like it! :D I think Tadashi probably has a _LOT_ of experience with telling rambunctious kids off thanks to Hiro. Thanks! :D**

**Hexyah, thanks for the review! Um…kind of almost—we're halfway through part one, part two is when we hit the big city. That _IS_ a big question…that is an _excellent_ question….(Guys a little help here?)**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

**Homeward Bound © 1993 Buena Vista Pictures (technically Disney)**

**Land Before Time © 1988 Don Bluth**

Not for the first time, Tadashi was very grateful for the improved night vision that came with being a bird-person.

Not that it made the dark ground streaming along beneath them any clearer—mostly it was shapes and suggestions of shadows and deeper darkness, but it was enough that he could tell when the terrain was jabbing up in rocks and fairy towers and something that looked very much like a trap that Wil E. Coyote had set up for the Roadrunner (he mentally went _meep meep_ when they flew past it).

But it did feel easier to see than normal—made him think there was something in his eyes now that drank in the fraction of moon and starlight and turned it into something that made the pitch-black less so. Or, maybe, more likely, he was just finally used to country nights after a lifetime of light pollution from San Fransokyo.

That was the more calming thought, so he decided to stick with that one for now.

On the positive side, the kids were less inclined to go darting everywhere when flying at night—probably because there was less for them to see, they had been like this when they were flying over the desert at night, although he was certain the lingering fugue from their argument was a contributing factor.

He'd worry about that later, when it was daytime and they were more active anyway—quick headcount, pat Violet gingerly, not loosening his grip—she was taking the opportunity to get more sleep, murmured a little before digging her claws in and burying her face in his hoodie.

'Kase was leading them north, following the path of the Milky Way in the sky—Tadashi couldn't help but keep glancing up at the stars spangling the sky. He had never seen this many stars in his life, not in person—sure he'd seen pictures, and sat through planetarium shows, but there was something about actually _seeing_ the sky packed with more stars than you could imagine that put it all in perspective, sobered you up, made you reevaluate everything in the grand scheme of things.

Maybe this was why people stayed indoors, or in cities where they were protected from the vastness of space by light pollution, he mused. And then spent the next several minutes wondering what the view was from outer space, if the glow of the sun acted as the biggest light polluter of them all, or if you got a spectacular view from behind earth, or how dizzying that had to be, suspended in space—what if you viewed it like in _Ender's Game_, where you just adjusted your reference axis and that gave him vertigo just thinking about it.

He shook himself, realized he had lost several minutes in his musings (at least, he _hoped_ it was that—he didn't like the idea of falling asleep while flying)—angled up a bit to do another quick headcount before dipping back down.

Grump huffed at him, tone almost questioning.

"Kind of drifted there, it's nothing," he told the griffin quietly—he didn't fancy trying to find a perch down there. It wasn't like flying over the desert—over the desert you were mostly assured that the ground beneath you was sand of some form. This was rocky crags that looked tenuous in the dark—he didn't want to risk putting his full weight on anything he couldn't see for certain.

Grump huffed again, prompting him to glance over—the griffin's dusky feathers were almost lost in the night. Which reminded him of the _other_ dark-feathered bird-person in the group.

"Nox?" he hissed—so quiet Violet barely stirred, but he knew Nox would react.

Indeed, a dark shape in front of him immediately torqued, head up, wings down, glancing back at him. "'Dashi?"

"Just checking, Nox—keep flying."

Nox trilled at that, went back to flying—a ripple of chirps spread through the bird-kids before they went back to silence. It was uncanny, them flying at night—utterly silent as opposed to their usual nonstop chatter.

Then again, he wasn't too sold on keeping up a conversation right now either.

His muscles were straining and his eyes were starting to prickle when the eastern sky started lightening, felt like an eternity more before the dawn started giving substance to the shadows beneath them.

"My, what a gorgeous sunrise," Beth observed.

"I get home, anyone tells me I should get up early to see one gets a sock in the nose," Brittany muttered. "I don't think it's worth staying up this late."

"Most people just get up early."

"And I wish I were them right now."

Tadashi yawned, scanned the ground, searching for a nice spot to settle down for the day—right now he was going to settle for a rock that was mostly flat on top with the plan of sleeping until noon at the least.

Glance up at the motion of 'Kase waggling a wing, followed her when she started spiraling down, end up in a section of sandy ground with scrubby brush scattered around, some of the Wil E. Coyote rocks ringing the area.

"Let prepper-boy know we're going to have to do some hunting later," she announced.

"Prepper-boy has a name," Sashi countered, yawning a bit before pointing at the rocks. "And I, for one, am sleeping up on the boulders so I don't get eaten."

"By _what?"_ Tadashi had to ask. "Coyotes? Wolves? 'Kase's favorite animal?"

"Graboids."

Tadashi blinked rapidly, brain finally clicking on the necessary memory of watching that movie with Fred. "Seriously? You're worried about a B-grade horror monster?"

"Excuse you, Graboids are serious business," Sashi said, crawling up onto a rock and flopping down, wings spread, arms pillowing his head. "Wake me in about a year, sooner if something happens."

"Sashi, you're worried about a monster made of paper mâché."

"Pretty sure it wasn't that. And I'll have you know the doomsday prepper survived the whole series."

"I give up," Tadashi sighed, wobbling a bit as he looked around for a good spot to sleep.

He had to wonder about them all deciding to sleep up on the rocks with Sashi, though.

* * *

Nox woke up when the sun was high in the sky, baking his dark feathers.

He felt rested and ready to fly again, chirped and squeaked and squirmed free of 'Dashi's arm and wing, shaking him slightly to try to get him in the air. "Fly 'Dashi _fly—"_

"Not now, Nox," 'Dashi muttered, eyes squinching in _don't want to-no-more sleep_. "Go back to sleep."

Except Nox didn't _want_ to sleep, Nox was awake and now that he was awake he wanted to _explore_.

Several of the others were already up, the youngers were down on the sand and making shapes like Beth and Sue had showed them playing games like Brittany had showed them and he wasn't sure if he wanted to do that. Pace along the top of a rock, flare his wings, enjoying the sound of the feather-tips snapping—flying was the best, flying was great, flying was what they were made for flying was as important as breathing as important as 'Dashi—

Spot Violet perched on another rock, beak tipped in the air—bound over to her, claws scraping and slipping on the rocks, tugging firmly at the base and making him want to _scratch_—should get 'Dashi to later that was good was important was good for them—reach Violet and whistle _question_.

Violet looked at him, warbled that she smelled _water_ and if she smelled _water_ then that meant _fish_ and _fish_ meant _food_—Nox churred _excited_ at that, _food_ was important food was good and if they got _fish_ then the olders would be happy and impressed let's go let's go right now!

Violet looked around, pointed—Nox looked to see Lena flying towards them, chittered _irritation_ at things happening and no one waking him up for them _why_—

By then several of the others had woken up, spotted them, bounded over whistling _question_, Violet's report rippling through them, Lena's confirmation of there being big sluggish _river_ a distance away sparking stronger excitement—

Lena shot down the clamor to go—she had had to fly up high-high-high to see the river (not so high as to touch _cloud_, she said when Nox asked), they couldn't go there without being out of the olders' line of sight and that was the big _rule_ they couldn't go anywhere the olders couldn't see—

Louie had been quiet and subdued and behind Huey and Dewey, startled Nox when he spoke up, pointing out that _technically_ they were where the olders couldn't see right now because the olders were all asleep and the olders would all be grumpy and grumbly if they were woken up so maybe they _should_ go and the olders would be happy if they woke up and there was _fish_—

Nox hissed, wanting to disagree with Louie on principle now—the _bald-face no-beak_ still stung, he was still mad about it, he was going to be mad about it because that had _hurt_.

Webby pointed out that they should at least get 'Dashi, that 'Dashi had been the one to get Violet out of the river when she had fallen in maybe Grump too—

Nox saw it in Violet's expression, when Webby brought that up, wasn't entirely surprised when Violet chittered _support_ for Louie's plan.

What followed was a lengthy argument that ended in Louie leading the part of flock part of flight to the river because they all agreed they could fly really well they'd be to the river and back before the olders noticed they were gone and Nox wanted to squawk and flap and carry on wanted to go and wake 'Dashi even Della was going gingerly balancing on one leg before launching herself into the air and Lena carrying Violet after her try didn't get her airborne—

But if he didn't go with the rest he'd be _only_, and _only_ was scary was dangerous was not-safe—

And besides, he really wanted to go see the river too.

So it was with much hesitation and concern that he lifted into the air after the others. They'd be back before 'Dashi woke up, he assured himself.

And nothing, absolutely nothing, was going to happen.

* * *

As it turned out, they didn't even make it to the river before they lost their nerve.

It was when the first of them, Nox, glanced back, saw the olders disappear behind a rock—his nerves failed him, his feathers plastered against him, he couldn't see 'Dashi and if he couldn't see 'Dashi 'Dashi couldn't see him and that meant that _she_ could get him they were not-safe not-safe not-safe—

Louie's wings were wobbling too, Louie was trying to stay bold but he couldn't do it—he wanted to keep flying to spite Nox Nox had been mean attacking him so what if he had called Nox a name he had been mad and wanted to be left alone but his stomach was tying in knots and wriggling and he couldn't do it couldn't lead them to the river he was scared—he wanted to tease Nox for wanting to turn back but the others were still mad at him mad at them both for fighting and he didn't want to risk losing them following but he didn't want to lose face—idea.

Point down, whistle that it looked like there were interesting things down there they should check it out maybe they'd find something interesting and take it back to the olders—everyone jumped on that, no one really wanted to be too far from the olders the olders were safe were good were flock were flight—

Louie landed on a rock, stretched his wings before preening them and pretending that he was perfectly in charge everything was going fine don't worry good—Lena landed, put Violet down, turned with arms stretched and _fwee_d for Della to aim for her—Della collided with her, rolled them both—several of the others hurried over whistling _concern_ but Della pumped her fists in the air and shrieked how _nothing could stop her_ and that was good she was all right 'Dashi and the olders shouldn't be worrying so much about her leg it had done pain-snap-bend-WRONG but maybe she was all right now—

He caught Nox shooting a glare at him before jumping up on a taller rock and preening—Louie felt his feathers bristle, looked around for a taller rock and jumped on it before suggesting that everyone split into pairs and start looking if they were in pairs then they weren't _only_ and that meant safe and everyone agreed with that and split off and—

And left him stuck with Nox.

Louie hissed at that, Nox hissed at that, they were still mad-angry-mad at each other and hadn't even bothered with trying _sorry-_rocks Nox shouldn't be so thin-feathered as to get mad at a name and he shouldn't have attacked Louie after Louie had _said_ he just wanted to be left alone no one in the whole flock whole flight except maybe Grump respected the fact that when you were mad and angry and frustrated and you _wanted to be left alone,_ that meant you _wanted to be left alone._

Well! He didn't _need_ Nox, he'd go off by himself, so _there!_ Turn his back, flick his tail in _dismissal_, hop away to prowl around and poke and sniff and try to find _something_ that smelled like _food_.

He hissed under his breath when he heard Nox follow—glance to see him behind, wilfed down to nothing as he glanced everywhere. Well, he could _ignore_ like he had been for ages.

Except it was getting hard to ignore Nox warbling quietly about getting back to the olders, that was doing nothing for Louie's nerves it just served to remind him that they were out and away from olders and that was dangerous and bad and scary and if they did that then _she_ would get them—

He felt his feathers wilf tight to his skin at that thought—he never discussed it with anyone, didn't want to didn't need to they all knew that the bad-place was no-good awful _bad_—

_He remembered opening his eyes, seeing _her_ hovering over, reaching up and squeaking because this was first-impression was good was safe was _mother_—_

_And then being left in cold bright dark smelly _cage_, all alone and _only_, crying for _her_ because _she_ was supposed to be safe be warm be good _she_ should be _here_ why was he left alone and hungry why why why—_

_Eventually _she_ did show up, along with others that snatched before he could stumble to _her_—_she_ ignored him as he screeched and screamed and reached for _her_—_

_And then the pain started, and he could tell, every time he looked at _her_ to beg for help beg for it to end—_she_ was behind it._

_The best thing that ever happened was them escaping._

And with that _remember_ echoing sharp in his head, he was hesitant to put _trust_ in any of the olders, the others were safer for the most part, were okay to let in close—they were more than willing to trust the olders to cling and snuggle and sleep and declare them safe and good and safe—

He couldn't—he still remembered the sharp betrayal of first-impression, of believing that _she_ was good and safe and _mother_ and good, of having all that be crushed hard and sharp like when Webby and Della had been playing with egg-shell when they had had _egg_ ages and ages ago, how it had gone from round and pretty to crushed and shattered—he couldn't give _trust_ to anyone. Not with that _remember_ still clawing at the inside of his head. Not with how all those other olders from before left them after they escaped from the bad-place—how they'd splinter off and leave when everyone was asleep, how every time he woke up it seemed like more had left—he couldn't trust that the olders now would stay. The others would—the others and the youngers knew the importance of flock of flight, would stick together—the olders did not would not could not, they'd all leave eventually and break _trust_.

Which was why Nox whimpering and wanting to go back to the olders was really starting to grate on his nerves.

Eventually he rounded on Nox, hissed for him to _shut up_—almost fell to calling him _bald-face no-beak_ but refrained, he didn't need to be wasting time fighting—told him if he missed the olders so bad he could go fly back himself—

Nox hissed and screeched and bristled—Louie almost fell back a step, steeled himself—told him to stop being mean and nasty he was angry Louie was still angry they were both still angry and Louie's claws were starting to itch for _fight_ that was not-smart and not a good idea but he was still so mad it was burning in his chest—Louie flared his wings, feeling muscles along the base of his head pull and tug and he knew it was supposed to be for flare-crest like 'Dashi had like Sashi had 'Dashi's was full-grown and feathered out though and meant _in charge_—mantle his wings, snarling—Nox postured too, ready for _fight_—

Glanced behind Louie—

Wilfed to nothing, wings falling heavy, eyes wide, ears going from pinned-flat to down-_fear_—

It was too thorough, too much—Nox had honestly spotted something scary instead of trying for _distract_—Louie whipped his head around, eyes wide and scanning, claws digging into the ground, ready to launch up—

He didn't see anything, but he felt his feathers ruffle and his skin prinkle—_something was watching them._ Keep looking—

Spot the subtle movement, the slink of furred-creature in the underbrush, the sharp eyes digging into him—

Shriek in _alarm_ and immediately bolt for sky, sky was _safe-safe-safe_—

The tan thing charged, yowling, jumped—jumped too high Louie folded wings so he'd drop hit ground off like shot Nox next to him shrieking—

Louie glanced behind, saw the tan-thing chasing, shrieked and redoubled speed—the tan-thing was chasing was _hunting_ was hunting _them—_

They managed to make a shallow leap, wings beating, shooting up—around them others were shooting into the air Lena with a tight grip on Violet eyes wide as she spun doing _count_ of them like 'Dashi did but they were all here—

The tan-thing yowled _disappoint_ before slinking off.

Louie tracked it as it went, knowing it was going to stay in the area could go find one of the youngers and _eat_ them the youngers couldn't fly and get to safe-sky couldn't outrun it would be _dead_—

Everyone was chittering with fear, Huey and Lena and Nox wanting to go back to the olders, Dewey and Webby and Della chattering that they should _mob_ the tan-thing and drive it away, Violet watching it go—

Louie squawked _no_ when Nox said they should tell 'Dashi because 'Dashi would know what to do 'Dashi was good and safe and older-brother—because if they told 'Dashi, they would have to tell that they were out of sight and breaking _rule_, there had to be a way to fix this—

His eyes glanced towards the river, noticed how the ground dropped sheer down to the water.

He was cawing with triumph as he announced _plan_.

* * *

_Plan_ went like this, as he explained to them, having finally made it to _river_ to peer down _cliff_ at it. _Cliff_ was very high and sheer. Grounded things could not climb back up once they fell down. They would _trick_ the tan-thing over _cliff_.

More than one whistled _how_, several already formulating _idea_—Webby thought she could trick the tan-thing into chasing her off _cliff_, Lena and Violet chittering _no-no-no_—Huey and Dewey suggested they drive tan-thing over _cliff_, chasing and pinching and harrying like they had with small _bears_, driving them into the woods.

Nox was suggesting nothing, looking around with ears pinned back, probably worrying about 'Dashi or the tan-thing—

Suddenly whistled for attention, pointed at a log sitting halfway on a rock, with more rocks next to it in what 'Dashi had called a _Wily-Coyote-trap_.

Nox explained, looking around for small stick and several rocks, setting it up in imitation of the larger example as he did so—explained that log could be _fulcrum_, could be used to launch the tan-thing into the river if tricked onto it—put a rock on one end of the stick before bringing a paw down on the other, making the rock go flying.

Everyone whistled _amazement_ at that plan, causing Louie to ruffle—it _was_ a good plan, and Louie hated that Nox had been the one to come up with it, even if he had used a made-up term to describe it—

Hence why Louie was the one who had volunteered as _bait_.

Lena was flying great big circles high above as Louie scanned the area, picking out the best routes to find his way back to the trap—the others were busy getting it set up properly, moving things so they could push the big rock down and launch the tan-thing into the river. His stomach was doing weird squiggly things and his feathers were wilfed down to nothing and he thought this was a horrible idea he had come up with, but he had committed had volunteered to be _bait_ and he couldn't back down now.

Lena whistled sharp, pointed—Louie angled up to see the tan-thing prowling around, eyeing Lena up in the air with obvious _concern_. It was time.

Louie took a deep gulping breath, dove to the ground, steeled himself, trying to keep his limbs from trembling—flopped a wing down and made it look _useless-broken-bent_, flapping the other one limply and gimping in circles, squawking _distress_. Glance up to see Lena still in the air, circling with _concern_ evident, attention split between him and where the tan-thing was prowling—glance back at him—

It had taken _bait_—now time to lure it in.

Louie started limping towards the trap, still squawking _distress_ and _hurt_ and _pain_, scanning and looking and realistically wilfed in terror—spotted tan-thing stalking him, pretended he didn't notice while still keeping one eye on it—he needed to be ready in case it thought that _charge_ was best course of action.

He gimped and limped towards trap, squawking and flailing harder—they were close enough that he could bolt the rest of the way if he needed to—kept glancing back, spotting the tan-thing still stalking, all coiling rippling fur and intense yellow eyes, carefully licking lips and twitching ears and putting paws just _so_—the relation to how they behaved was terrifying, made it feel like he should know it somehow—

He was starting to lose his nerve—his movements were getting janky from his muscles locking—he needed to stay strong, just a few more moments—

He was at the trap, knew that the others were up on the _Wily-Coyote-trap_ being _shh-_quiet—knew he had to commit.

Turn around, backing onto _fulcrum_, keeping his one wing looking _useless-broken_, forced the feathers on his back up even though they were plastered down by _hoodie_ and _fear_, hissed _defiance_ at the tan-thing that had been stalking behind.

Lena had disappeared from the sky—she was in place too.

The tan-thing suddenly flowed from its hiding spot, stalking openly towards him, eyes pinning him—he stumbled back, paws slipping, tail flailing—

It didn't speak like they did, not like birds that were easier to understand, but Louie could understand enough—that it saw him as _food_ and that he should be grateful because he was being put out of _misery_ and it was the way of things that _broken_ and _weak_ fed hunters.

Louie was so forcibly reminded of _her_ just then that he froze—the tan-thing padded forward faster, teeth bared—Louie scrambled back, realized it was getting close—squawked _NOW NOW NOW—_

The tan-thing stopped, attention snapping around—

Now would have been a really good time for it to go flying.

Except as he scrambled back, foot slipping over the edge of _cliff_, he saw that even with everyone pushing and shoving and heaving, they were not budging the rock couldn't budge rock their feet were digging in and slipping they'd never get it Nox was starting to scream _anger_ and _fear_ at the realization—

The tan-thing focused on him again, coiled—Louie braced himself—

Launched into the air as it did, sailing out over the edge of _cliff_, powering down and up like he had seen 'Kase do, spin when he thought he was safely out of range—

Saw that the tan-thing had skidded to a halt before it slipped off of _cliff_, was hissing and yowling angrily at the _trick_—

Something big and dark slammed into it from behind, shoving it off of _cliff_ to go screaming down to the river.

Grump roared after it before snorting and backing up.

Louie landed on the edge of _cliff_, looking down at the tan-thing paddling in the water and yowling at being bested—looked up wilfing at the snort aimed in his direction—

Plastered himself to the ground when 'Dashi came crashing down, yelling _they're here we found them!_

Louie waited for punishment, even as the others shrieked with happiness and tackled 'Dashi, even as 'Dashi counted them all—flattened himself more when 'Dashi came over and scooped him up—

"What were you guys even _doing_ that was a _cougar_ are you all right you could have _died!"_

Grump snorted that he wasn't entirely certain that'd be a loss and Webby screeched at him for being mean—Louie was surprised when 'Dashi hugged all of them close, wings wrapped tightly around them too.

"I'm sorry," he said, voice thick. "I should have gotten up when you guys tried to wake me."

Louie blinked at him, several times—he wasn't sure if he understood 'Dashi, 'Dashi was so different from _her_, who just watched and observed and never took blame or blamed him or even interacted no matter how hard he had screamed for attention, had begged and pleaded, had never given him warm _hug_ like he was getting now. He knew punishment was coming, that they would all serve _time-out_ that lasted forever and have to hear 'Dashi _lecture_, but for now….

For now the warm feeling made him wonder if he could risk giving _trust_ to 'Dashi.

He glanced down from 'Dashi's face, saw Nox with face wet curled up as tight as he could to 'Dashi's chest—hesitate…finally dig in the pockets of his _hoodie_ and handed a smooth shiny river rock that he loved to Nox.

_Sorry_, he whistled quietly to Nox. _Sorry for bald-face no-beak._

Nox blinked slowly at him, accepted the rock, pocketed it…hesitated before pulling out a sandy rock from _desert_, with the stripes that Louie had loved—it looked like _cliff_ from there in miniature.

_Sorry for fight,_ Nox warbled back. _Sorry-sorry-good again-sorry._

Louie accepted the rock, smiled weakly at Nox.

_Good again yes,_ he confirmed.


	18. They Say It Tastes Like Chicken

**Chapter 18, everybody—it's Kyle Bush's chapter! :D In other news, we see the reaction to the cougar and lunch is served…And Tadashi still continues to have sucky dreams someone send him good vibes he needs them. D:**

**From what I know, lions are the only big cats that hunt in groups—most others live by themselves until mating season and then go back to the solitary lifestyle afterwards. As with all other wildlife mentioned in this fic, please try not to actually BE where the wildlife is human beings are about snack-sized and you don't want to mess with an area's apex predator. D: On that note please don't mess with rattlesnakes either my dad's side of the family had to living in Texas and the general approach was always either shoot them or run away screaming. D:**

**Pretty sure people just say "it tasted like chicken" because chicken by itself kinda tastes like nothing—either that or it's the most diplomatic thing to say. Rattlesnake _is_ considered an acceptable dish in the western US, although it's also considered an illegal one, since rattlesnakes are protected by the Department of Fish and Wildlife.**

**In other news, I have great-aunts who made snapping turtle soup and turkey butts and dumplings, and ox tails and buffalo tongues were considered delicacies, so at some point I think it just boils down to "how hungry are you really?..."**

**Tadashi's lizard story is based on my first college, which had lots of lizards that made their home on campus. And yeah, since preppers prep for total societal and economic collapse, undergarment care is probably a major talking point.**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Ack, don't die! D: Yes! And yes! And—maybe not as much as we would hope. Since the kids are still working on temporal distance and object permanence, and it's been a few days since the bear, it's kind of the literal example of _out of sight, out of mind_. They're learning though. Aww, that _is_ cute! :D Some of my hens had babies too and one of the cats had kittens so that's been kicking production on all bird-people writing into high gear. :D**

**Hexyah, thanks for the review! YES! And yeah—they all could probably use some therapeutic snuggling. Agreed—and agreed….And that reminds me, I need to finish watching season two (of both BH6 and _Ducktales_ I'm so behind OTL).**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

**Ratatouille © 2007 Pixar (Tadashi quotes it)**

Sashi honestly seemed torn when Tadashi reported the cougar. On the one hand, as he pointed out, that was a major predator—on the other, he seemed to be struggling with the idea of it being launched into oblivion from a full-body check from Grump.

Mostly, struggling with not laughing at the mental image.

"I saw it, I can confirm, it was funny," 'Kase said, grinning in Grump's direction—the griffin huffed and flopped down, doing his best to ignore the bird-kids grooming him, fresh from their time-outs.

"My main concern is _does it have buddies?"_ Tadashi put in, arms crossed, taking a cue or two from Grump on ignoring having his wings groomed with a vengeance.

"No," Sashi said with absolute conviction. "Most big cats hunt alone—there's probably not another cougar for miles. And I bet you _that_ one is going to think twice before coming near us again."

"And I'm sure everyone _here_ is going to think twice before flying off again?" Tadashi asked, glancing over his shoulder at Nox—he was quickly greeted by waves of _no-no-sorry-no_s from every last bird-kid. "Very good."

Especially considering it had been _way_ too easy for the bird-kids to just slip off—he had nearly had a heart attack when he woke up and realized Nox wasn't tucked in next to him, wasn't anywhere nearby, that _none_ of the older kids were nearby, that the little ones had been playing nearby with no supervision anything could have happened some of the kids had nearly gotten _eaten_ for pity's sake.

Brittany was arguing with Sashi now about trying the river for fish—Sashi's main concern being that _there was a cougar in that water I'm not sure that's a good idea_. Cougars, coyotes, bears…what else could be out here wanting to eat them?

He'd be glad when they had to start skirting around civilization again.

Slim body flopped against his back, arms wrapped around his neck—"'Dashi."

"Hey," he said, patting Nox's arm. "What were you guys even thinking going off like that, huh? You're supposed to stay where we can see you."

"'Dashi sorry sorry yes 'Dashi _hrrr_ 'Dashi—"

"All right, all right, chill," Tadashi told him, glancing at Louie sitting next to him and occasionally mincing closer. "And what are you up to?"

Louie never looked directly at him when Tadashi's attention was on him, he noticed—he'd catch, sometimes, out of the corner of his eye, Louie watching him intently, braced like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop, but he'd always look away when Tadashi looked at him.

He wasn't sure what to make of that.

He knew what he could do about this though—scoop Louie up and tug him into his lap, hugging him close and ignoring the initial squawk of protest.

"That was really stupid, I want you all to know that," he said, ruffling Louie's hair. "I'm glad you're all alright though."

Louie stopped struggling, kind of huffed in resignation as he sagged against Tadashi's chest.

"No," Nox said, climbing over his shoulder and summersaulting into Tadashi's lap. "My 'Dashi mine."

"No," Lena said, bounding over to hug Tadashi from behind. "My 'Dashi _mine."_

"Guys, we talked about sharing," Tadashi sighed, sagging a little.

'Kase smirked at him, had her mouth open to say something when Violet and Webby started shrieking—look over as Lena started and bounded to them, Violet with her wings out and hissing—

"What—" Sue started.

'Kase was already heading there, Lena starting, looking around, grabbing a big rock and shrieking as she smashed it down. 'Kase reached them—jerked her head back in surprise.

"What is it?" Tadashi asked.

'Kase crouched, seemed to be worrying at something with her talons—

Turned around, holding a thick rope up.

"Sashi!" she called. "Any truth to these tasting like chicken?"

Tadashi's mind registered the diamond pattern, the rattle pinched between her talons, the rope coiling and moving on its own, red dripping from one end—

He was going to pay for swearing in front of the kids later, past experience told him, but right now his mind wasn't offering any better reactions to the knowledge that 'Kase was currently holding a beheaded rattlesnake that was half as long as she was tall.

Sashi recovered quickly enough, pointed. "Yes, can confirm, we had one with stir-fry once and they do taste like chicken."

Despite everything, most if not everyone had to give Sashi a nonplussed look.

"Ew, Sashi," Brittany said finally.

"I'll eat your bite if you don't want it."

"I didn't say that."

"You find you're more willing to try new things when you're hungry," Beth said, tugging Violet over. "That thing didn't bite you, did it?"

Tadashi helped her check the girls over as Sashi and 'Kase puzzled through cooking the rattlesnake, Sue and Brittany finding some long sticks to poke around the shaded areas in as the heat started getting to be too much, stopping some of the kids when they tried to take dust baths. Oi just what they didn't need.

"Okay," Tadashi said, when they had satisfied themselves in checking the girls over and confirming that the snake hadn't bit them anywhere (he was still going to be keeping a close eye on them just in case). "Okay…'Kase what happened to its head?"

"Still under that rock," 'Kase said. "The girls sandwiched it when Lena got it."

"Okay—_no touching that,_ that thing can still bite you, got it?" he asked, pointing at the rock. "No touchy."

"No," Webby repeated, pointing at the rock. "_Hsss_ bad win good bad-_hsss_ _skree—"_

"Okay I get what you're saying, but the word you're looking for is _snake_, Webby. _Snake."_

"Sssn-ka!"

"Uh, no—_snake."_

"Snnnicke."

_"Snake."_

Louie took that moment to repeat what Tadashi had said earlier.

Tadashi glared at Louie, chagrined. "Seriously? _That_ word you get? Beth stop laughing."

Beth had to bury her face in Lena's wings for a few moments and was incoherent for a while afterwards.

* * *

_He was in the woods, sunlight streaming through straight trees—it really was beautiful here._

_Noise—he made his way to it, heard chittering—_

_Saw the kids, several of them running over to him, chattering and begging for him to come play—look around, could pick out the others, all looking comfortable—_

Good nest-safe nest-good-good-good—

_He wanted to think that way, yes—roll down to let the kids pretend they had bested him again, them not crushing him this time—sit up, saw several of the kids sitting and grooming a dozing Grump who looked almost peaceful, half-glasses sitting on his beak—'Kase flew overhead, racing someone with yellow and violet feathers—_

_That was right, he was supposed to meet his friends—he needed to before—_

_Another kid tackled his neck, hanging off his back and chittering in words he understood—that this was good and safe and they loved him—Sashi ran by, Huey hot on his tail—_

So glad we didn't go to the city.

_Tadashi blinked, looked after him—what? Why didn't they? Look around—_

_Slink over to Grump, he was closest—ask why they hadn't gone to the city—that was the plan—_

_Grump lifted his head, considered him, tipping his head this way and that, eyeing him over the half-glasses—_

Shoddy memory is the hallmark of clones_, he said. _But we ran into something that convinced you to abandon that plan—no point, after all.

_No point—no—no there was a point there was a major point—he had to get to Hiro, to Aunt Cass, to his friends—_

_…Who, now that he looked, were all in the clearing…Aunt Cass was sitting with Beth and Sue…._

_All of them had wings and feathers and tails, bird legs that bent contrary to human ones—Wasabi looked like a half-Grump, able to sit upright and gesture—no—_

She knows,_ Grump continued, in that precise snobbish voice Tadashi expected of him. _Like an idiot you led her right to them. But at least it simplifies things.

_Simplifies—_

'Dashi!

_Look—Nox was running up to him, on all fours—_

_So was Hiro._

_No—no Hiro—_

_They reached him, Hiro vocalizing the same way Nox was, claws catching on Tadashi's arms, tail flailing—the depth his eyes used to have were gone—no—no Hiro—_

You have to admit though, it's a very fine cage,_ Grump said, looking up. Tadashi did too—_

_Bars arced over them—a huge aviary, with them as the main attraction._

But I'm sure your favorite professor can't get to us, right?

Wrong.

_Tadashi wilfed, tugging Nox and Hiro close, behind him, trying to protect everyone from Professor Callaghan coming their way—_

She_ was leading him._

Which one, that one?_ This with her pointing at him._

Yes,_ Callaghan said. _I want to finish what I started.

_No—no no no—shove the kids, tell them to run—_

_Skittering black grabbed his ankle, yanked him back, dragging him towards the two loathsome adults—_

Don't worry about being gentle—I can bring him back as many times as you want.

Good to hear.

And as a bonus—

_Tumbling blackness—fire—pain—no—_

_"NO!"_

_"'DASHI!"_

Tadashi jerked awake, breathing hard—realized Nox was trying to shake him awake—

Realized 'Kase was looking over Nox's shoulder.

"Must have been some nightmare," she commented.

"Y-yeah," he muttered, pushing himself upright. "What is it, did you need me to take a shift?"

"Ordinarily I'd say no, but I don't think you're getting back to sleep anytime soon, are you?"

He shook his head, sitting there and trying to get the rest of the dregs of the nightmare out—he didn't need that thought—

_Monsters don't have families_.

She sat next to him as Nox climbed into his lap. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really," he said, scrubbing at Nox's hair—the little bird-kid trilled, burrowed his face against Tadashi's collarbone—he thought of Hiro then, of the dream-Hiro, how being a bird-person had robbed him of all his brilliance, his energy—had that happened to Nox?

"Fair enough," 'Kase said, tossing her head a little as she scanned the area. "Not really my thing anyway."

Was it different for adults? The adults all seemed fine—Nox was a clone, though—but so were 'Kase and Grump, and they were fine. He thought—the jury was still out on Grump.

"I thought _you_ were the emotionally sensitive one, and it was your original that didn't like the touchy-feely stuff," Tadashi croaked, mind still too far on his bad dream to worry too deeply on whether or not that was okay to bring up.

"Trust me, this is a _vast_ improvement," she told him, not seeming bothered by his wording. "She would have just stabbed you and got it over with."

"Charming," he said, looking at her.

"Look, being a sushi chef is a very cutthroat business, you don't get places with being emotionally available."

"'You have orders to fill and you can_not be mommy!'"_

"Oh dear, he's quoting things again."

"So I get that _you've_ probably never watched a movie…."

"I've got a lot of secondhand memories of watching cooking shows and ripping them a new one over a glass of wine." She sagged, eyes closed. "I remember a very comfortable couch, which bugs me because _I_ personally have never been on it and I need a couch dangit."

"Maybe you could sit on Grump, turn the tables."

"Tempting—I'll think about it."

They lapsed into silence again, looking around, making sure nothing was sneaking up on them. The sun was still high in the sky, there was a long way to go still, he felt, more nights of flying and days spent sleeping.

"I'm—" he started.

"If you say _I'm sorry,_ I'm going to knock you for a loop."

"Fine, be that way," he huffed. "But…I don't know, you seem together about all this, and I…just kind of…."

"'Don't be too impressed, I had my nervous breakdown earlier.'"

He scoffed a laugh at her throwing his words back at him. "All right, fine."

Silence again, Nox murmuring a few things but mostly snuggling against Tadashi and trying to get back to sleep.

"Have those nightmares often?" 'Kase asked, tail twitching, tapping against his before flicking away.

"Do you?" he asked.

She huffed. "Fair enough."

"No wait—do you? Maybe it's a side effect of bird-dom."

"_Bird-dom?"_

"Being a bird-person?"

She huffed again, glanced away. "Sometimes I do," she admitted. "Not bad ones, just—feeling like someone's chasing me." Glance at him. "Okay, I shared mine, your turn."

"That wasn't a lot of sharing."

"I don't usually dream about anything. _Some_ of us can actually fly until we're exhausted."

"I'll have you know I'm plenty exhausted from flying."

She snorted again, let silence reign.

"Mostly the nightmares are about my family," he admitted. "About my professor finding them."

"And that's…bad," she said.

"It is. Uh, I never told anyone this, but he's…the one who…did _this_ to me," he managed finally, gingerly tapping one of the bigger burn scars on his face.

"I _was_ wondering who was responsible for that—I always figured you sneezed in front of a bonfire."

"Ha ha, you're not funny."

"So your professor did this," she prompted, tilting her head at him. "And…you're worried that he'll go after your family next."

"That's basically the scope of it," he agreed. "Add in that he was my favorite professor before he tried to deep-fry me, and you might get why his murder attempt stings more than usual." Hesitate. "You know, if it was _just_ a murder attempt—we don't know if he succeeded yet."

"What did I tell you about bringing that up?"

"I know, I know—I'm sorry—" Yelp when she cuffed him upside the head. "Well I _am!"_

"You need to stop," she said. "The apologizing and the thinking about that. Although, if he _did_ succeed, I want to see the look on his face when he sees _you_."

"Hmm, yes—_I am the ghost of Tadashi Hamada, come to haunt you until the end of your days. _He'd probably drop dead of a heart attack upon seeing me."

She snickered at that, went back to scanning the rock formations. "So I guess I can get having nightmares about that."

"Hmm," Tadashi noised, looking around.

"Oh no."

"What?" he asked, attention snapping around—she was giving him a look.

"_Hmm_ means there's more. What is it?"

_"Hmm_ can mean a lot of things."

"Not when you make it sound like _that_. Now spill."

"And if I refuse?"

"I sic all the kids on you—they'll all sit on you and never let you back up."

"I _would_ like to go through life without broken ribs," he sighed. "Okay, fine—sometimes I have nightmares about…_this_…happening to Hiro." _This_ with a gesture to themselves. "That _she_ finds him and does this to him. Sometimes to everyone I care about."

She considered his gesturing hand. "How old is your brother?"

Tadashi blinked at the question. "Fourteen—why?"

"Pretty sure he's still at the age where once he gets over the _what the eff_ part he'll go straight to _hey watch me do a triple corkscrew in the air."_

"Okay, that's a new terror I hadn't considered, I'm not ready for the gray hairs that'll give me." Think about it. "My friend Fred would probably be helping him—he'd see it as an origin story and decide to be a superhero."

"I'm of the opinion you have weird friends."

"I unfortunately cannot deny that where Fred is involved—listen, Hiro was doing this exhibition at SFIT to get in—"

'Kase seemed to think as much of Fred's underwear approach as the others had, prodded him for another story when he finished—moved on to the time they had found a little lizard on campus and were escorting it across so it wouldn't get squished, how Fred tried herding it with his hands, crouched down low—was convinced he'd get lizard superpowers when it whipped around and nipped his pinky.

"It was about a month later when he finally conceded he wasn't getting any," he concluded, 'Kase making muted chortling noises.

"Your friend Fred is a mess," she said.

"I don't know, that'd be my first thought too."

"Morning, Sashi," Tadashi greeted, looking at the teen still curled up around a sleeping Huey. "How much did you hear?"

"Started with the tail end of the underwear story," Sashi said, rolling over a little to look at them. "That was both disgusting and kind of awesome."

"See, that was _my_ comment."

"Boys are disgusting," 'Kase said, shaking her head before poking at Nox. "Don't be like them, you hear me?"

"Mnnh," Nox noised, batting at her hand before snuggling down tighter.

"Not that we'd ever _follow_ Fred's example," Tadashi started.

"Speak for yourself," Sashi said, looking like he was trying to follow Nox's example on how to drift back off to sleep. "I'm going to suggest that at the next prepper meeting for how to get undergarments to stretch."

That made Tadashi and 'Kase agree—whatever it was preppers were preparing for, they devoutly hoped it never occurred.


	19. Disturbia

**Chapter 19, everybody! And look! Civilization! And once again, I have to say that I have the thinnest of ideas of Californian geography, so please bear with me.**

**So apparently there's this thing now where your cremated ashes can indeed be forged into a diamond—or a vinyl record, and since Mom wants to be cremated we've been half-seriously discussing these options (hopefully it won't be something to worry about for many, ****_many_**** years). Me…actually you know what I'm not sure what vinyl I want to be I'll get back to you (but Beth's plan is tempting, ngl). And as Sashi said, the knight on a bike thing is something I saw on Tumblr—y'all don't have enough to do.**

**And as it turns out there's canon evidence for Beth's thought just look at Baron Von Steamer and Supersonic Sue. "Pleasant Valley Sunday" is a song by the Monkees, by the way.**

**For those of you unfamiliar with bird anatomy, the nares are basically bird-nostrils, and sometimes do have little scrubbly hairs on them—my Pionus parrot does, for example, and nightjars ****_really_**** do for sensing bugs. In bird-people cases, it kind of crosses over into cat whisker territory.**

**Also, kind of based the setting this chapter on the suburbia setting from ****_E.T.,_**** and the title is a lift from the Shia LeBeouf film of the same name, which in itself is based on Alfred Hitchcock's movie ****_Rear Window._**** Which I actually like better than the remake….**

**In other news, this fic and writer supports Second Amendment rights and you would too if you lived in the country ****_we have wild animals people some of which are immune to the smaller calibers REMEMBER THE BEAR._**** D:**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! YES. 3 And yes you go girls. :D And I do too that movie's so quotable and I end up thinking about it every time I cook. Thanks, I hope I can continue to please! :D**

**Hexyah, thanks for the review! Yes I very much love writing friendships we need more of that and it makes me happy writing it so there you go. :D**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

**Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End © 2007 Disney (there's a line in Tadashi's dream there)**

It was about the third night of flying when they spotted something on the horizon.

Tadashi still wasn't getting a decent night's sleep, was staggering in the air sometimes, agitation starting to wear him thin—had to stay focused, just—when they landed again, he'd actually sleep through the day this time, wouldn't jerk awake because of nightmares or thinking that the kids were getting into trouble…figured being tired was why he was seeing stars on the ground instead of the sky, kept thinking that until 'Kase said something.

"Guys…I think that's a town up ahead."

They skirted around it, struggling to keep the kids from diving down to check it out—saw streets and highways beginning to snake beneath them, started angling to follow them, Sashi wondering aloud if they should swoop down to see which interstate they were following, Brittany shooting that idea down by pointing out he'd make someone drive clean off the road if he did.

It was weird, though—he'd have thought that the sight of civilization would have gotten everyone energized, would have sparked some conversation. It did, but…the conversation was muted, concerned—they had been out in the wilderness for what felt like ages, and it just felt surreal seeing towns and streets and lights again.

Especially knowing how anyone down there would react to bird-people.

Tadashi shook his head, trying to get the fuzz out, ignoring the exhaustion and hunger gnawing at him—they were both common now, flying took a lot out of a person—said they'd have to look for a place to land and hide early if they were in populated territory again.

They skimmed around another town and back into uncharted territory again though, highway lights and headlights the only manmade sources of illumination around, stars starting to make a comeback but still sparse compared to what he had become used to. Try to settle back into his usual rhythm—ended up staggering in flight again, causing Violet to whistle in concern.

"I'm okay," he muttered, blinking hard. Violet didn't feel like she believed him.

Neither did Grump apparently—surprised him with a low _hough_ and bark, causing 'Kase to glance over her shoulder before dipping down lower, the way she usually did when looking for someplace to land.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"All those in favor of Tadashi getting more sleep, say _aye_," 'Kase said.

_"Aye_" came from at least five different sources.

"You guys suck," Tadashi muttered.

"I want more sleep too," Sashi said. "Specifically, I want sleep at that Four Seasons we passed a while back. I'll take a Motel 6 at this point. I'll take a back room at Denny's."

"You'll take the coffin I pick out for you and like it," Brittany grumbled.

"Nah—guys—guys, if she kills me I want that thing done where they forge my ashes into like a diamond, and then I want you guys to set that diamond in a sword and avenge me."

"That's a lot of work just to avenge you," Sue pointed out.

"Yeah, but I want it to be…metaphorical. No…poetic? I don't know, I just want to be sleeping."

Tadashi's eyes were itching with exhaustion and he was barely following the thread of the conversation, but he managed to glimpse Beth and Sue exchanging glances.

"What do you think?" Sue asked. "Too much effort?"

"I'm retired," Beth said. "I get the feeling I could visit a senior center and get more than a few people in on this whole thing."

"So the moral of the story is people do crazy things when they retire."

"I'm thinking of filing away the _turn into a diamond_ thing—I want mine set into a ring to be worn on the middle finger."

Tadashi staggered again, this time from laughing.

"All right all right, chill," 'Kase said, angling down—the others followed her, landed in some hilly scrub that provided some cover and gave them some height to see if anyone was coming for them. Sashi landed, staggered, sat down hard enough to wake Drew.

"Sorry," Sashi said. "And—I know a guy, one of the preppers, he's into like ye olde fashioned blacksmithing—I already told him I want a sword and a suit of armor, I'd be ready for the zombie apocalypse then—just ride around on a bicycle, full knight armor, swinging a sword—"

"Are you being serious, or is this you being super-tired right now?" Tadashi asked, sitting down and telling himself he was just resting his eyes.

"Pretty sure I saw it on Tumblr," Sashi said, patting the area around him before sprawling out. "But it's an awesome idea. Pretty sure a suit of armor's effective against most things."

"I would pay good money for a _Walking Dead_ episode like that," Sue said, curling up around Harry and Trisha.

Tadashi was sure there was a whole other conversation, but by then he was horizontal and barely registering kids crawling on him.

He jerked awake a few hours later.

"Nnh—what time is it?" he muttered, rubbing his face.

"Half-past stupid-o-clock—go back to sleep," 'Kase ordered.

"You need—"

"I will clock you with a rock if you don't go back to sleep."

"Fine, fine," he muttered, curling back up and trying to pillow his head. "Wake me if you need anything."

Her _hmph_ told him that wasn't likely.

It took a while for him to drift back off, and when he did it was into the well-worn treads of nightmares, of something bad happening to his family, his friends, of Callaghan catching him and finishing the job—a couple of memorable times he had Hiro do it. Interspersed were run-of-the-mill odd dreams—being caught in his underwear on campus was oddly refreshing when he woke up and looked back on the break, but not during. And then the memorable one of coming downstairs to Aunt Cass sitting and chatting with 'Kase, Grump, Beth, and Sue in the café, all of them bird-people, Grump with his half-glasses and vest, pouring tea and informing him _we're having a marvelous garden party, and you're not invited._

He wasn't certain what to make of the _garden_ part of the garden party being the weird plastic ficus you'd find in waiting rooms and lobbies.

And then the one that was just plain concerning, of trying to tug clothes on Hiro and Nox in their bedroom, yelling every time they pulled them off that they wouldn't allow them on SFIT property unless they were dressed—

_He could tell—this dream just felt snarly and weird, felt off—he had been on edge bracing for nightmares and every time he was worried something would happen—_

_Tug the shirt back on Hiro, telling him he'd like the classes at SFIT they had flying classes now and Lena was in charge of snake-bashing that was a thing—could feel himself twitching, sensing this dream starting to go sour—spin to catch Nox before he could crawl out the window—_

_Something was wrong—their room looked…different. Nests, scratchy and junk-filled, walls coated with scratches and nicks from claws, Hiro sitting on his haunches and loudly complaining about having to wear clothes—_

_Glance at the windows, shrinking even as he looked at them—grab Hiro and hustle him to the stairs, going _forget the clothes_—he always tried outrunning his bad dreams but that almost never worked—_

_The stairs were all wrong, branching and twisting, leaves blocking the view of the diverging pathways—he wondered aloud where Aunt Cass was—_

This way,_ Hiro said, tugging him down a slippery path—Nox kept trying to pull him off—they reached a platform and he and Hiro started arguing—_

_Hey, stop—grab them both, pick a direction and go—_

_Come out of the deeper bushes into the woods, keep going, glancing up—no bars that he could see. Glance around—they weren't safe, they were being hunted…._

_Somehow ended up on the SFIT campus._

_He blinked, looked around—what—_

_Hiro was tugging—grab them both, start running in the other direction—something was wrong, his legs were snarling and not wanting to bend right what—_

_Stumble, fall, Hiro and Nox tumbling away—Tadashi spun to see what was wrong—_

_His legs—his legs were wrong, encased in jeans and feet in shoes, no talons or scales or feathers to speak of, no tail—scramble upright, trying to get to—_

'DASHI!

_Gasp at the sight of SFIT burning, of Hiro trapped in one building, of Nox in another—_

_Of Callaghan and the microbots barring his way._

You can only save one, Tadashi—which will it be? You have to choose one or the other.

_It was an impossible choice—it shouldn't have been—_

_Try for the third option, dream logic telling him to get rid of the boogeyman causing this, leaped for Callaghan, fully intending to slam his fist in his face—_

_Halfway through his fingers flexed out instead of curling in—_

_On top of him suddenly, talons wrapped around his neck, blood seeping everywhere—dead—he was dead—_

Oh hon, monsters don't have families.

_The familiar terrifying sound of a burning building crashing down on itself—_

'DASHI!

He jerked awake, breathing hard—crashing crunching noise still sharp in his ears—

Wait—it was a real thing, it had a source—

"Whoever's doing landscaping at this hour is getting my fist in his face," Brittany groaned, face buried in her arms. Tadashi sat up tentatively, ears pricked, scanning the area…spotted a guy at the base of the hill, putting trimmed tree limbs in a woodchipper.

"Well," he muttered to Brittany. "Welcome back to civilization."

"Civilization can shut up for about three more years."

Tadashi watched the man work. "Well I can go down there and ask, but I don't think that'll help."

"Super."

Tadashi shifted around a little, getting his haunches under him—having an ice-shock moment at being _relieved_ at the now-familiar feeling.

They couldn't get to San Fransokyo fast enough.

Nox murmured, stretched—flopped down, arms stretching, fingers grasping—rolled the other way—Tadashi moved a foot or two away so he'd be out of Nox's reach, shuffled over to 'Kase, one eye on Nox and the other on the nearest houses and yards. They were on the edge of a development, he thought.

"So what do you think?" he asked 'Kase when he was close enough. "Missed this?"

"Not hardly," she said, eyebrows twitching as she looked down the hill. "_I_ never knew the outside of a lab before you, remember?"

Tadashi felt his wings ruffle a bit in embarrassment, tried very hard to ignore that feeling. "Okay fine—what do you think of it now that you see it?"

"Boring," she said promptly. "Ordinary. Not enough happening down there to warrant all the fuss."

"'Another Pleasant Valley Sunday,'" Beth murmured, looking like she was trying for more sleep, Mei and Drew and Taylor curled up against her chest.

"Izzit Sunday?" Sashi asked, yawning.

Ah. "Beth, what do you think?" Tadashi asked her.

Beth's tail twitched. "I think if I lived here me and woodchipper guy would be having words."

"We'll tag-team him," Brittany said.

Tadashi grimaced, looked around, looked at 'Kase—tipped his head at the rest of their hill. "Maybe we should move further into the woods—less exposed."

"I thought you were desperate to get back to this," 'Kase said, gesturing.

"To San Fransokyo—this isn't San Fransokyo. And I'd rather not try to explain to suburbia about the feathers."

"Tell them it's new wave."

"You can get away with that in the city; not so much here."

"Word gets out and then you're the crazy survivalist family hoarding bullets and baked beans," Sashi said, half-lifting his head. "What time is it?"

"Daytime, if I had to guess. Come on, it's darker under the trees, we can get some more sleep that way."

"And be less exposed," 'Kase said, guessing his ulterior motive. "And when you say _we_, are you including yourself in that estimation?"

"I was thinking you might like a break—"

"All those in favor of Tadashi getting more sleep say _aye."_

_"Aye"_ came from at least five different sources.

"Seriously," Tadashi huffed. "You guys suck."

"You'll get over it."

* * *

'Kase got Grump to take over for a while, curled up in a ball to sleep…decided she was being stupid when she went to curl up next to Tadashi, although it paid off when he stirred and tried to get up only for her to growl "Don't even think about it."

Her sleep wasn't as restful as she would have liked—having to cut flying short meant sleeping longer meant she wasn't sleeping as hard when she tried, and her stomach was gnawing at her and getting hard to ignore. And the idea that there were people—_normal_ people—just past the tenuous safety of the trees…her mind was screaming _no-danger-bad-not safe_ no matter how hard she told it to _shut up._ Combined with the jerk down the hill with the woodchipper, and any sleep she did get was fleeting and full of half-remembered snippets from a life that wasn't hers.

_Flying through the city, not with wings but from running and jumping along rooftops—fighting children in costumes—poisoning a man with sushi to rob him—a net—a trap—a cage—_

_…A man giving her the means to escape…._

She lifted her head, shaking it—she never liked that particular snippet. She had a vague idea…she should have known better, she thought it had just been something they did not that she wasn't….

Shake her head again—she knew she had met that man later, had plotted and schemed with him…well, not _her_, per se. She was disappointed in herself, knowing the number of times she had laid in her prison and hoped that guy would come back, provide her with the means to escape once more.

No. Instead, it was a different guy.

Hamada…why did that name ring a bell?

Still too early to even be thinking about flying—groan, flop her head down, not thinking too much on where it landed until Tadashi stirred and she realized she was flopped on his shoulder. "Um…."

"You hush," she ordered. "This is so you don't try to sneak off and do guard duty instead of sleeping."

"You're so mean to me."

"I do try."

Grump snorted a little, got up and paced around—there wasn't really a clearing, just a small clean spot under a few trees where bushes hadn't gotten to. Some assorted debris told her that kids snuck up here to do things they shouldn't—Tadashi and Sashi had used sticks to scrape it all into a pile to flick under some brambles so the kids would leave it alone. Move around a little, try to get back to sleep…nothing doing, and it wasn't being distracting enough to quiet her thoughts on the matter. Tadashi had asked her what she thought of the place?

She hated it.

She hadn't been lying when she said she found it boring, bland, and ordinary. She was comparing a bunch of identical houses planted in neat little rows with a city that housed millions and had been around for well over a century, that housed the brightest and the best. Of course this would be bland and blasé in comparison.

That wasn't it though.

It was something else—something she linked with the corner of her mind that sounded like the bird-kids' incessant chattering. That corner had been perfectly fine with woods and deserts crawling with dangerous animals, but decided that _houses_ were evil and should be avoided at all costs.

It was stupid, it really was.

Grump continued to pace, huffed that to one direction was more woods (_not that he thought anyone cared,_ he added), and that apparently the ground dipped into a valley and that's where the development started. She wondered who he thought he was talking to, considering she was the only one who could translate his and the kids' vocalizations into English.

What if the gene cleansers _did_ work on her, what then? She didn't think she'd be able to stay in San Fransokyo, but if this was how she felt about suburbs and towns…no. No this was her encountering suburbia for the first time of course she wouldn't like it it was new and strange and different and she was used to woods and desert and a horrible lab full of bright lights and sterile smells before that. She was just being stupid.

Staying with Tadashi wherever he went after they got back to normal was stupid too.

Darn him and his niceness—his annoying helpful attitude had gotten him under her skin, and she didn't much care for trying to tailor what two sets of instincts told her to do to what _he_ said was the right thing. Sure she could feel inside what he was telling her, that she'd be able to tell what the right thing was to do—but it was much easier to look out for number one, to be worried about herself, to be worried about flock about flight—

She ground her teeth, tucked her head down against her chest so Tadashi wouldn't feel it and comment. That line of thinking came from the bird-side of her brain, from hearing the kids chatter all day—

Oi it was tempting to just fall in with what the kids were thinking of this whole thing, that this was all a grand adventure and they'd find something great they were certain to because 'Dashi was good and safe and good…stupid naïve kids.

_Then why are you following him?_

That was a good question—she had told him that her original wouldn't have done this, would have needed a good reason like that guy had given her (revenge on…someone. She wasn't sure, those memories were starting to blur more now that she had new ones to focus on). Her reasons for following Tadashi…well let's see, get her out of the lab, yeah sure…too nice, he'd wander off a cliff if she didn't keep after him….

_Flock-flight-important-good-safe-good—_

Ugh, shut up.

Maybe it was just easier to follow him right now—following him meant less effort on her part, meant she could stave off the inevitable problem of flying off by herself being _only stop that—_

But yes—she felt safer with others around right now, calmer…felt _useful_ this way. If she were ambling around by herself she'd be in a panic, but in the middle of a bunch of others making the same questionable decisions, she felt safer. She didn't know if that was a thing unique to her, or if it was a product of the feathers, but it was something she could…somewhat get.

So maybe she _would_ be on her own when they got to the gene cleansers. Hopefully by then she'd have acclimated herself to the idea.

In the meantime….

In the meantime she managed to drift back off to sleep with the thought of flock of flight surrounding her.

* * *

Exploring this new place was harder than it ought to be.

'Dashi was sitting up, acting like he wasn't quite awake yet, flopping back down at growls from 'Kase, sitting back up when he heard them scurrying about. Nox squeaked, snuggled in tight against 'Dashi, burbled and tried to assure 'Dashi that he was being good-yes-good, but it was hard he had slept for so long and he was awake _now_ he wanted to _play_ and _fly_ and explore there were things with lights down the hill and he wanted to _see—_

'Dashi hooked an arm around him and hugged him close, looking like he wanted to go back to sleep wanted to get up—Nox chirped, tried to get him to get up, chittering that there was _new_ and they needed to go see everyone else was waking up and excited they hadn't flown for _nearly_ long enough there had to be something good around here right?

Violet sniffed the air, chirped at Lena—Lena sniffed the air too, confirmed what Violet had scented—_food_.

_That_ got everyone chirping and squawking, Nox trying to wriggle out from 'Dashi's grip—'Dashi hugged him tighter, going _no Nox no_—Louie and Dewey were already bolting in the direction Violet said _food_ was—

Grump landed heavily in front of them, snarling _NO-you-STAY._

Nox hissed at Grump Louie and Dewey hissed at Grump that was _no fun_ they didn't _want_ to stay they wanted to explore what was this place they wanted to _see_—

"Nox, stop squirming," 'Dashi said, sitting up again, still looking bleary. Nox whistled _concern_, batted at him—

"'Dashi—Dashi-Dashi-Dashi 'Dashi fly yes _fwee chirrp—" sleep-tired-not tired-me-want-play-yes—_

"It's gotta get dark first, Nox, give it a bit."

Nox hissed under his breath he didn't want to do that he wanted to explore and it was okay that 'Dashi needed to sleep but Nox needed to explore so he was going to. Glance at Grump, glaring at all of them—slink over to Webby and Della, trying to peer through bushes, Huey with a stick poking at the pile of _no don't touch_ that the olders had swept into the bramble-bush that hurt and poked and bit and so was DEFINITELY _no don't touch_.

Webby looked over when he whistled _question_, told him that there were lights and noises and they were odd and they didn't know what they were and Grump and 'Kase weren't being helpful about it they were acting twitchy like they needed to go but the lights were pretty so maybe it was okay—

Violet slipped up next to Nox, reported that this was probably not going to be _nest_ this was not-good-place there was no food up here and none of the olders wanted to go down _there_ to get food—

Nox looked at Huey, still poking—Huey looked at him, warbled that he wasn't sure what was _bad-bad-no good-bad_ about the pile of _no don't touch_, that he was hungry-hungry-hungry too and wanted something to eat they agreed on this why were they staying in one spot if there was no food to eat?

Nox twitched his ears, looked up at the sky going out—bright-light-_sun_ had set, it was getting dark—good smells still on the air, down off of _hill_, near the lights….

Glance at the others before quietly rasping _plan_.

The others immediately voiced support, Huey abandoning the bramble-bush and the _no don't touch_, Della looking herself over and volunteering for _distract_ of the olders because she wouldn't be able to slink through brush properly—Huey volunteered to help her, and that left Nox and Webby to slip down _hill_ as the last burnings of bright-light-_sun_ disappeared, leaving the area dark.

Nox paused, warbled a bit in concern—this wasn't _bit_ that 'Dashi had said, was it? They wouldn't all leave without them, would they? They wouldn't think that they had done like those olders from ages and ages and ages ago did and _leave_, would they?

Webby shushed and chittered for him not to be silly, they hadn't thought that during _cougar_, 'Dashi would come find them, don't worry, focus on good-smells that might mean _food_.

They padded along, being _shh-_quiet, putting paws just _so_, Webby slinking forward to find best path forward, beak not as affected by twig-scratching, thin scrabbly-hair on her nares sensing space—Nox tried not to hiss at the thought of something else he didn't have that would be useful, it didn't matter that he didn't have it he _did_ because he had Webby they were flock were flight and flock and flight worked and played and ate and slept as one they were one even when splintered off into smaller like this so long as they weren't _only_ they were safe—

Webby glanced back, rasping lightly before looking forward, ear-flick gesturing him forward to look-see-scent—he slipped up close next to her, spreading a dark wing to help hide her lighter feathers, nose twitching and eyes squinting as she snuggled up close against his wing join under wing was best place to be it was safe it was warm—

Big squares of light made patches of light on grass, like tiny _sun_s but not bright-bright, or maybe like _crackle_-fire but not quite, lighting inside of cave-nest, or—or _cabin_, showing movement within—

Sniff—food-smell.

Churr lightly at Webby, who went _churr_ back, quietly slipping forward, skittering around brush not wanting to go across big-empty-_open_ space _open_ space was exposed could be bad—sniffed at big SHINY things that had food-smell and other _blech_ smells coming from it—another big SHINY thing smelled like _fire_ and food—warm smells good smells food smells were coming from a big square that was like _door_ that 'Dashi opened in _cabin_ was worth investigating—

_Door_ swung in, making Nox and Webby flinch back—

Something strange came out, no wings no tail no feathers, making grumbly noises and heading for the big SHINY things—

Froze wide-eyed when it spotted Nox and Webby. Nox and Webby froze—stay still stay quiet stay safe—

It screamed, bolted through _door_—Nox and Webby bolted for brush for safety for 'Dashi 'Dashi was safe and good and safe he'd protect them from the no-feather—

'Dashi nearly stepped on them coming after them, tackled them, hugged them close, scolding—

All of them froze at the sound of sharp _ka-chunk._

Two more no-feathers had come out of the cave-nest, feeling like 'Dashi and Sashi but not, the smaller no-feather peeking out of _door_, one big no-feather with something long and metal in its paws, squinting suspiciously at everything—

"I don't see anything," it said finally. "I think you saw a coon, El."

_"It wasn't a coon, Danny!"_ the smaller one shrieked.

Nox wasn't sure about these things, but fear made him _shh-_quiet and still, wilfed down to nothing, pressed tight against 'Dashi hugging them tight against him, paws covering Nox's mouth covering Webby's mouth, all of them wide-eyed and frozen in the bushes, 'Dashi with wings wrapped tight around them, still-silent, fear soaking into Nox and making him tremble—these were _BAD_ if 'Dashi was scared he didn't know what they were he just wanted them to go away wanted to get back to the others—

BANG!

Nox flinched hard at bright-light-loud-noise 'Dashi flinched hard Webby flinched hard—Nox screwed his eyes shut, whimpering smothered by 'Dashi's paw by 'Dashi hugging him close—

"That'll scare off whatever it was," the no-feather said, barely audible over Nox's ringing ears. Nox squinched his eyes open to see the no-feathers going back into the nest. "El, Mom asks and I was shooting at a bear."

"Your mom would never leave you guys alone if she thought bears were in the area," the other big no-feather said.

_"It wasn't a bear, Danny!"_ the smaller no-feather wailed, still protesting loudly despite head-ruffle from the larger no-feather—Nox could still hear it even after _door_ was shut.

They stayed there for long agonizing _minutes_, 'Dashi hugging them tight against him, straining and sensing….Finally gusting out air in _relieved_, arms loosening a little.

Nox quickly clung to him. "'Dashi—'Dashi _no_ bad—"

"Shh-shh, it's okay—it's okay," he said softly, patting Nox patting Webby Webby was clinging close too burying face against him and making quiet weep-warble—"It's okay, we're just—we're going back to the others now, okay?"

"Okay," Nox hiccupped, still trembling—that had been bad been scary and it made 'Dashi scared so it HAD to be bad—"Okay. Okay…."

'Dashi carefully picked his way back up hill, hissing whenever branches caught him caught wing caught feather, down on all fours to keep from tumble—Sashi met him about halfway up.

"I heard—please tell me I just heard a car backfire, or-or a firework," Sashi said breathlessly.

"Some kids," 'Dashi told him, quiet and tone wobbly. "Two about our age, one like preteen—one of the older guys shot a round into the ground, thought he was scaring coons off."

"Well I got news for him, it works on bird-people too," Sashi said, teeth chattering. "Can we go now?"

'Dashi looked back the way they came, stiff and listening—Nox could feel him looking and listening trying to see to hear to sense….

"Yeah," 'Dashi said finally, still staying low to ground on all fours—Nox clung tighter Webby clung tighter 'Dashi was good was safe was good—"Let's go."


	20. This Actually Does Taste Like Chicken

**Chapter 20, everybody! In which Sashi is forced to revisit his earlier question about if bird-people can eat bird….And in retrospect I used the All-Marts as sort of a bland-name product but I could have used Smarty-Marts from _Kim Possible_ oh well. *shrugs***

**So Sashi's approach to dinner and where he got it from actually comes from a conversation my Mom had with a worker at a Sam's Club one evening, when she asked what happened to the rotisserie chickens that don't sell. You would expect them to be donated, right? Wrong—there's some sort of law, health code, or regulation that prevents them from giving the chickens away, so all unsold rotisseries go in the garbage at the end of the day. "I know which dumpster I'm raiding if I'm ever homeless" was Mom's comment upon hearing this. "Pulling back a stump" is another Mom-ism, and usually happens when Dad makes something SUPER tasty and we joke about stealing from each other's plates.**

**In other news, glasses are indeed a liability because if you break or lose them you're up a creek without a paddle (speaking as someone who's worn glasses for the majority of her life). And some birds (and other animals such as hyenas) crack open bones to eat the marrow within—the bearded vulture, for example, which eats almost exclusively bone shards. And fun fact about that bird: it's also known as the lammergeier (which Word recognizes WHY), or 'lamb vulture,' as they were thought to snatch away young lambs. They do not since their diet is almost exclusively bone, but that doesn't change the fact that _these things are big enough to actually CARRY OFF a lamb._ :O They also like to paint themselves with mud to stain their feathers different colors.**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Well let's put it this way—little brother comes in shrieking about monsters, go out into the yard that backs up into woods that has large predators such as bears, loud noise would most likely scare it away. It's the economical approach. Yes—and oh my goodness yes (and then the irony of the fact that since I'm usually writing late at night, they're scolding me too ^^; ). Thanks! :D**

**Hexyah, thanks for the review! Hey, it's economical, less fuss than a grave plot, and makes a great conversation piece. "Yeah this is Mom." "You mean it was your mom's." "No, it _is_ Mom." Yes, please get more sleep Tadashi….And no there isn't, but she still has some of that old wiring there. Yes…and please no murdering. D: Because yeah, _we_ know better, but since the dude's property backs up into woods that we've already established has large predators, _they_ don't know that. Oh man, I hope she gets better soon—we'll be praying for you!**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

**Homeward Bound © 1993 Buena Vista Pictures (technically Disney)**

**Firewing © 2002 Kenneth Oppel**

**Brother Bear © 2003 Disney (Beth quotes it)**

**Romancing the Stone © 1984 Robert Zemeckis (Tadashi quotes it)**

**Cars © 2006 Pixar (Sashi quotes it)**

The gunshot had scared everyone more than they cared to admit.

'Kase had been apoplectic when they reached the others, feathers wilfed down to nothing, looking like she was trying for fury but couldn't get past the fear _"WHAT happened?"_

Tadashi had filled them in, joked that that had been about as effective as the horseshoe coffee in waking him up—no one laughed, but no one disagreed about getting _out of there._

Hence why they were flying again, Tadashi trying very hard _not_ to heave a sigh of relief when they left the bright lights of civilization behind.

This was _not_ how it was supposed to go.

Violet warbled at him—it had taken a while to peel Webby and Nox off his chest, had to bribe them with flying—but now they were both flying _much_ closer to him than normal, enough that Nox's tail kept tapping against Tadashi's wing and startling him.

"No, no, you don't need to fly this close," Tadashi hissed at him—a chirp beneath him redirected his attention. "Webby, no, you fly up there with the others—go fly with Lena, okay?"

"'Dashi," Webby said, still quiet and scared. "'Dashi yes-good 'Dashi—"

"I need a professional adult here."

"Closest professional adult," Sue declared, wobbling a little in flight to come even with him. "This is Sue, how may I direct your call?"

Despite everything, Tadashi couldn't help but cough out a laugh at that. "Yes, hi, Sue, this is Tadashi, I'm having a problem with two clingy kids."

"Have you tried turning them off and then turning them back on again?" Brittany asked, causing Sashi to sputter.

"You mean they come with on-off switches?"

"Ahem," Sue noised. "Please stay on the line sir, your call is important to us and we will be trying to resolve the issue as soon as possible. Anything happen in the past twenty-four hours that might have prompted this behavior?"

"Does hearing their first gunshot ever count?"

"Yes, that would do it. Chances are you've established yourself as a safe haven, and kids generally run to safety when something scary happens. It's why parental beds get invaded during storms or after bad dreams."

"Not that this isn't enlightening, but how do I get them back to where they should be so I can keep an eye on them? _Webby,"_ he added sternly, looking down at the little bird-kid fluttering along beneath him, constantly eyeing him like she wanted to grab onto him.

"Unfortunately, you're just going to have to let it peter out—most parents suffer through at least one night of kids in bed at a time."

"I'll take being slept on. Go on, Webby, fly up there—" he said, trying to wave her to the others—

Webby grabbed his arm, folded her wings, twisted her tail—actually _flipped over_ midflight, kicking her feet up to grab his hoodie before plastering the rest of the way against him. The combination startlement and extra weight made him stagger in flight, had to flap hard to get back to where he was.

"Tadashi?" Sue asked, concern lacing through her voice.

"I'm fine—still here, don't hang up," he grunted, feeling the strain of maybe an extra fifty pounds clinging to him (not going to complain about how light they felt compared to normal kids right now, might complain about the rocks in their pockets). "Webby just grabbed onto me. Webby…."

"'Dashi," she noised, burrowing in close next to Violet. "'Dashi yes-good-yes _'Dashi—"_

"Help," Tadashi moaned. "No, Nox, don't you get on me too."

"'Dashi," Nox noised, looking back at him. "'Dashi yes 'Dashi—"

"Help," Tadashi said, looking at Sue, who was currently looking at him with sympathy.

"I'm sorry sir, you're just going to have to wait it out," she said. "On the positive side, this probably means we'll land early again."

"Oh come on."

"I'm sorry sir, but them's the breaks."

"I blame you for this," Tadashi said, looking at Webby. She and Violet looked at him, made little chirping noises. "Oh no, don't try for the cute routine, I'm not buying it."

"Did Tadashi hang up?" Sashi asked. "Because if he did I'd like to call into the professional adult line and get some advice like on taxes, car payments, life and death situations…."

"PTA meetings," Brittany muttered.

"Oh yeah that too."

"Since when does being shot at make you lot so chatty?" 'Kase demanded from up front.

"It didn't make _me_ chatty," Sashi put in. "But now that you mention it—"

"Shut up, Sashi."

"Beth, 'Kase's picking on me."

"Don't make me turn this formation around," Beth said.

Tadashi coughed on a laugh, flapped—muscles already feeling the strain of flying with extra weight. He had managed that time with Nox and Violet, but only because desperation had sent him shooting up into the air and away from the bear, and they hadn't flown nearly as long, he thought. Or maybe it just felt longer now because he had no landmarks to judge—yay, the little lights of the highway and from the town they had left had killed his night vision. Just what he needed.

"Okay, fine," he said finally. "We can stop a _little_ early."

Grump huffed at him.

"Now don't you start."

"Tadashi," Sue said, using the tone he recognized from Aunt Cass.

"Fine, fine…I'll let you all know and we'll land and take a break. Maybe by then these two will have calmed down some, huh?"

"If you're lucky, but I doubt it."

Tadashi sighed, tried to hold out for as long as he could…counted the green signs he could see on the highway to distract himself, try to judge distance…strip malls and superstores were starting to pop up, further killing his night vision….

Finally had to call it quits.

"Sorry guys, I need a break," he announced—the burning feeling in his wing muscles had gone all the way to his wingtips and down his tail. Which, by the way, is the weirdest feeling ever did we ever cover just how weird it was to have a tail because it _was,_ darn it.

'Kase dipped down, started looking around…angled away from the lights of the superstore parking lots, dove…circled around, scanning the trees before flapping back up to them.

"There's a little clearing over this way with a spot where we can get airborne again easily enough," she announced. "We'll land there."

Tadashi nodded, angled after her along with the rest of them, squinting, trying to pick out what she saw—ended up clipping his wings and running into a few branches on the way down, landing harder than he wanted to, quietly cursing the bright parking lot lights and dangit did we really need all those lights? Yes, because people did weird things in the dark.

"Okay," he groaned, rolling upright, patting Webby and Violet to make sure they didn't get squished. "You girls okay?" Upon receiving affirmative chirps: "Good, now get off, you're killing me."

"No," Violet said, snuggling close. Webby echoed her, tightened her grip.

"Help," he said to Sue, who had landed with a bit more grace.

"Come here, girls," Sue said, crouching near him and adjusting her hold on Drew. "You want to come over here and say hi to Drew?"

"No," Webby said, face buried in Tadashi's hoodie—oh great, now Nox was tucking himself under his wing _no Nox_—"No-no-no 'Dashi good yes 'Dashi—"

"I can't help you," Sue told Tadashi.

Tadashi sighed, tried to struggle upright—couldn't, managed to shuffle sideways a little to peer out of the woods. From the looks of it, they were once again on a hill overlooking a populated area, the bright lights filtering through the trees where they were, contrasting bright lights with bands of deep shadow. They'd probably have to move deeper into the woods if they stayed here too long. 'Kase and Sashi were perched on the rocks edging the hill, looking down at the bright lights.

"Seems sleepy enough," 'Kase decided finally, hopping off the rocks and into their little clearing. Tadashi tried shuffling in that direction to take a peek for himself; lots of lights spangling the ground, laid out in squares and lines, all orderly and neat. Manage to stumble upright enough to sit on one of the rocks and take a better look.

Sashi stayed perched on one of the rocks, looked like he was trying to pick out individual shapes in the star-studded ground—wiped his glasses on his shirt and looked again.

"Does that look like an All-Mart to you?" he asked finally, pointing.

Tadashi squinted in that direction. "Yeah, kinda. Why, what are you planning?"

Sashi already had his wings spread and prepped. "I'm going shopping."

* * *

Sashi ignored Tadashi's protest, assured him he wasn't _stealing_ anything, just going by one piece of information he heard.

After all, it wasn't _stealing_ if you threw it out.

Not that flying off by himself did anything for him but make him nervous, made his wings flap worse than usual—his stepdad was right, people were generally coded for groups, because right now a big part of his brain was screaming at him for not being in the middle of a bunch of other bird-people.

It made him grateful for Brittany powering after him, even if she did say it was _to make sure you didn't get your idiot self killed._

Okay—okay, focus—look around…looked like a relatively small-ish town sort of situation, the All-Mart was probably built after those suburbs down there…definitely looked closed up close, the whole area probably shut down at nine.

"Okay," he squeaked. "So we know it's after nine PM."

He could just _feel_ Brittany glaring holes in him. "And that matters _why?"_

"Uh—dinner—right down there—hold on—there's—do you see cameras?"

"Sashi, _what_ are you even planning?"

Okay—okay so there was enough space to land there he thought—

Tail leading and then feet and now was a bad time to find out that landing on asphalt was _loads_ different from landing on dirt or grass or whatever there was no give or traction the soles of his feet felt like they got road burns and he ended up taking a tumble and nearly losing his glasses.

_Maybe we should get you Lasik when you're old enough—glasses are a liability for a survivalist._

Okay—okay that was fair maybe he'd be cool with it when he got back home he'd say he was fine with getting his eyes fixed because the idea of literally flying blind was just terrifying. Brittany, of course, landed with no problem, Brittany held off embarrassment by sheer grit.

"Sashi," she said, sniffing with disdain as she looked around. "We're like two feet from a dumpster."

"Exactly," he said, scurrying over, taking shallow breaths as he flipped a lid open.

"Sashi, _no_. No, I am not going dumpster-diving I am _not_ that hungry I am _never_ going to _be_ that hungry."

"Oh chill a minute, will you?" he asked, digging through the plastic—please, don't be the one day you actually sold them all—aha!

"You don't listen, do you?" she asked, taking a step back from what Sashi was holding out.

"Oh come on!" he said, indicating the container. "It hasn't been broken open, it's fine! Look, there's two more in here—that's _three_ rotisserie chickens, Brittany! _THREE!_"

"It's been in the dumpster!"

_"We have been LIVING in DIRT for TWO MONTHS. Grow a spine, will you!?"_

Maybe it was having her words thrown back at her, or maybe it was the fact that he actually snapped, or maybe it was the fact that she most likely had the same neverending gnawing pain in her stomach and the chance to get rid of it was too tempting—she snatched the plastic rotisserie container away from him, muttering _gross gross gross_ as she did so, took the second one he handed her.

He grabbed the third and hopped out.

"There we go," he said, turning the one he had over to check for puncture marks in the plastic. "I heard from someone who works in one of these places that they throw away any unsold rotisseries at the end of the day."

"I'm glad you didn't bring this up at the _last_ All-Mart we were at," she said, holding the chickens gingerly.

"I wasn't this desperate then." Which was a lie—he had been desperate then, but he had also been completely terrified, had been ever since he had woken up in that weirdo lab dealing with people who viewed him as some sort of animal it had been every sci-fi movie he had ever watched except _he_ was the lab rat escaped specimen he'd have a hard time watching one of those movies and not sympathizing with the monster from now on he realized. He had been _so relieved_ at getting _out of there_, even with wings and feathers and a tail and so on—so relieved that his mind had just gone _ffzzt_ upon realizing he was _out_. He had gone on in a complete haze, following the rest of the crowd, mind on its blue screen of death until Tadashi shook him out of it by asking him what his name was.

_He blinked several times, trying to process the guy with all the burn scars shaking his shoulder and addressing him. "Uh?"_

_The guy gave a sort of wry grin, like they had bumped into each other on the trolley or something. "I said, what's your name? Are you paralyzed from the neck up or something? Oh wait, don't tell me, you only speak bird." This with a gesture at the little black-feathered boy clinging to his wings and burrowing his face in his feathers._

_"Uh—uh no. No my name's Sashi. Eastlake."_

_"Well hi Sashi, I'm Tadashi Hamada, and I'm not sure who this is," he said, indicating the bird-kid now peeking over his shoulder. "And he's not really being forthcoming with suggestions—or maybe he is, but I'm not squawking something unintelligible every time I want his attention."_

_The bird-kid said something that sounded like _aawk_ before burrowing his face back in Tadashi's feathers._

_"Uh, hi," Sashi said, higher reasoning starting to come back to him—and unhelpfully mentioning he didn't have pants on. "You were the guy that opened the cages, right?"_

_Tadashi shrugged. "Someone had to help. Now come on—I'm not really for it, but we're going down there and we're getting ourselves some clothes and stuff."_

Sashi was glad Tadashi had gotten him out of that cage and out of his funk—it had given his mind something to focus on, let his prepper training come back—multiple layers and a raid on the camping section, despite some other people's comments.

Watching Brittany launch into the air, he wondered how those people were—they had taken off on their own ages ago—what on earth had their plan _been?_ As far as he had ever been able to tell, he was the only one who had anything resembling wilderness training—that had been clear enough when his multiple layers paid off the first night out.

His stepdad would be proud, he figured—and he stood by his belief that he'd like Tadashi. But then again, it was hard _not_ to like Tadashi—he had that everyone's-friend personality that probably grated on _someone's_ nerves, but was easy to gravitate towards.

He missed his family. His mom was probably out of her mind with worry. His stepdad…he didn't know, maybe he was out looking, telling his mom that _Sashi's a smart kid, he'll make it_—they had to believe he was lost or kidnapped or something. It wasn't like he was about to run away to his dad.

Not anymore, at least.

"Sashi! Come on!" Brittany called down. "Someone just turned this way!"

Ohcrud—jump, flap, claws catching weirdly on the asphalt—panic—he was never good at these dead launches—

Scramble up on the dumpster, crouch, launch out—power down _hard_—

His wingtips slapped the pavement, but at least he was airborne, flapping frantically, following Brittany as she angled back the way they had come, glancing back frequently—

Finally managed to just _glide_ for a bit and catch his breath.

"So," he wheezed finally. "You like chicken, right?"

"I'm still not sold on dumpster food," Brittany said.

"So that means I get your share, right?"

"You'll be pulling back a stump."

"Fair enough."

* * *

'Kase was teasing Tadashi about being the panicky older-brother again, Beth reminding him that he _had_ promised them the story about Hiro and the bot-fighting, probably to get his mind off of things—his wings twitched, arms too tightly crossed to otherwise react. He had finally gotten the kids off of him and curled up next to each other, which gave him plenty of opportunity to focus on being worried about Sashi and Brittany.

Currently, he was hunched on the boulder he and Sashi had been sitting on, staring in the direction they had gone intently, like he could just _will_ them right back here. He was being stupid, he knew, but he hated the idea of something happening to them—not when they were _this close_—

'Kase was sitting next to him—suddenly pointed. "There they are."

Tension left his back as he spotted them seconds after she did—up in the air, winging straight back for them.

"If they just stole something, heading right back for base is one of the dumbest things to do," 'Kase said.

"He said he wasn't stealing anything," Tadashi reminded her.

"Uh-_huh._ If it's in a city, it belongs to _someone_. It's stealing."

Tadashi scowled at her, opened his mouth to respond—

"Incoming!"

They jumped out of the way as Sashi came in hot, tumbling down the boulder and then part of the dirt path behind it. Brittany's landing was more graceful.

"Are you guys okay?" Tadashi asked, hopping back close. "You're okay, right? What is that?" he added, spotting the shapes in Brittany's arms—staring at the little suburbia had ruined his night vision.

"Garbage chicken," Brittany said.

"What?"

Sashi popped out of a bush, holding something up. "Ta-da! We got dinner! And can once again ask the age-old question of whether or not bird-people eating bird is cannibalism."

"_What?"_

"You're being stupid again," 'Kase told Sashi. "And what are you two talking about anyway?"

"Sashi went dumpster-diving," Brittany said.

"And if you guys aren't going to eat it I am!" Sashi countered. "I'm going to be super-miserable too, but I can take it!"

"Dumpster-diving?" Tadashi asked, feeling hopelessly behind on the conversation. "What did you two _do?"_

"Look," Sashi said, bumbling over to Tadashi and fumbling with whatever he was holding. "I heard that the All-Mart people have to throw away any rotisserie chickens they don't sell at the end of the day—not sure what the reasoning is, but the seals are still shut and they're still warm so—"

Sashi succeeded in opening the container, and Tadashi's nose went from wrinkling at the external smell to flaring at the smell of cooked and seasoned chicken.

"Oh man Sashi I could kiss you," Tadashi said, having to swallow from his mouth watering.

"Sorry 'Dashi, but that's what got my dad started, so…."

Tadashi laughed, ruffled his hair, shoved him towards the others, hollering that Sashi and Brittany had brought dinner—

Three chickens disappeared quite rapidly under the concentrated onslaught of twenty bird-people.

Everyone was quick to forgive precisely _where_ the meal had originated from—hunger and the reasoning Sashi provided got them past that part. 'Kase and Sue and Beth quickly divvied up the meal, chunks of meat and skin disappearing as fast as they could be stripped from the bones, Grump crunching through bones, kids licking the containers once they were emptied—Lena, Drew and Harry stole some of the larger bones, cracking through them and sucking on the inside before anyone could stop them, gnawing on the outside before they could be relieved of said bones. The end result had once again looked like buzzsaws should have been heard, and while they weren't _full_, they weren't starving anymore.

"Very nice, Sashi," Tadashi sighed, once the kids had settled down and stopped trying to eat the plastic containers. Nox was currently sitting in his lap, busy licking his fingers, and sagging against Tadashi's chest.

"Thank you, thank you," Sashi said, laid out on his side, raising a hand to twirl his wrist before flopping back down. "Hey, if we stop by another All-Mart tomorrow we can see about trying that again."

"We'd have to stop early—we're going to have to fly through the night now that we're encountering civilization on a regular basis." Tadashi scratched at his neck, stomach feeling light, a thrill making some of his feathers stand on end (that was a weird sensation any time)—_civilization._ They were getting close, soon they'd be home.

Shake himself a little, look back at Sashi. "So hey, where'd you get the idea to do that anyway?"

"Ah, my mom asked the people at All-Mart what they did with the rotisserie chickens that didn't sell," Sashi muttered, rubbing his face a little, looking like he was trying to drift off. "They told her they had to throw them out, some legal or health reason—Mom joked that if she was ever homeless she knew which dumpster she was hitting first." Chuckle—suddenly look sober and distant. "I think we got real close, once."

Right then, Tadashi wanted to ask just what had happened with his family, knew that there had been a divorce…felt that it wouldn't be appropriate. He settled for grabbing Sashi's nearest ankle and shaking it a little.

"You did good, Sashi," he told him.

Sashi ducked his head, face flushing when the others echoed that sentiment.

"_Fwee_," Nox noised, flopping sideways in Tadashi's lap. "Dashi-Dashi-Dashi…."

"Hey no don't get too comfortable we've got to try to fit some more flying in tonight," Tadashi said, poking Nox—Nox giggled and flailed a little. "What's the rule, you guys think—no flying for two hours after you eat?"

"I don't know, they used to serve meals on planes," Beth said.

"Yes, but you weren't the one doing the flying," Sue told her.

"Wait—you guys got _meals?"_ Sashi asked, sitting up. Huey squawked, clinging tighter. "I remember when they stopped giving us _peanuts."_

"They used to be full-course meals and didn't taste like cardboard," Beth told him.

"Okay, I don't remember that," Sue said, settled down a little with two kids sleeping against her.

Sashi looked at Brittany. "I want those flights—I'd fly more if we had those I feel robbed."

"Didn't you have to dress up for that too?" Brittany asked.

"You did," Beth confirmed. "It was a whole production. And none of the fuss involved with flying now—just hop on a plane and go."

"Or hop in the air and go," 'Kase said, standing and stretching. "Which, by the way, we'll be needing to do soon. I'll give you all thirty minutes, but after that we've got to go."

"Fair enough," Tadashi said, looking at her. "By the way, you have to say it."

"Say what?"

"Is there something you want to say to Sashi?"

'Kase considered this, turned to Sashi. "You smell like you dove in a dumpster."

"I'd be offended if it weren't true," Sashi said. "I mean I'm still a little offended, but not as much as I _could_ be."

"And when you steal something you shouldn't head straight back to base."

"Okay…."

"'Kase you had something nicer to say," Tadashi sighed.

"Fine, fine…you did good."

Sashi gasped, went wide-eyed—grabbed Brittany's upper arm and started shaking her a little. _"Did you hear that? 'Punch me Guido, punch me in the face, this is the happiest moment of my life!'"_

"Don't make me take you up on that offer," Brittany said.

"Then you haven't been leading a very eventful life," 'Kase decided, pacing away.

"She means that in a nice way, Sashi," Tadashi told him.

"I will totally take it," Sashi said.


	21. Bird In The Headlights

**Chapter 21, everybody! Where we not only get another glimpse into Louie's mindset, but also get to see him have a moment similar to canon: totally distracted by the shiny.**

**In other news, this is why you should obey traffic signs and speed limits, and slow down for curves and inclement weather. And I feel like I probably should have mentioned it a chapter or two ago, but the ****_all those in favor say 'aye'_**** line is me having a ****_Road to El Dorado _****moment—love that movie. :D**

**And the scene in the bus—one of the very first illustrations I did when puzzling this story out about this time last year. Really need to finish it up, but you can see the WIP on my Tumblr account.**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Yes, I love writing those two interacting they're fun. :D And that was probably at least one point of concern for Brittany, yes. Yes we have to make sure these guys have at least ****_one_**** big meal they deserve it. :D Me too….**

**Hexyah, thanks for the review! Yes! Seems a shame. Thank you, I'm glad you liked it! Yes, Sashi is a good boy and we stan him. :D Awesome, that's great news! *hugs***

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

The rest of that night went fairly uneventfully, as did the next day—the night after that was when they ran into trouble, trying to fly through a drizzle that ended up soaking their feathers to the point that they had to land and try picking their way through the woods again, Tadashi hoping to avoid any more incidents.

"I don't suppose we're going to be lucky enough to stumble on another abandoned cabin, are we?" Sashi asked—Tadashi looked over his shoulder, was barely able to pick Sashi out in the drizzling gloom. Okay, so travelling like this was a bad idea.

"I say we try to find a spot that's not so wet and wait this out," Tadashi said. "I don't want to lose anyone in this mess."

"I have someone," Sashi volunteered. "Wait, who do I have?"

"Sashi," Huey noised. "Sashi yes Sashi—"

"Okay so I have Huey…."

Tadashi paused to take a headcount, Sue and Beth herding the kids close to help keep track. Grump came up with Della on his back and the back of Violet's sweater pinched in his beak, Violet hanging there, limbs curled up, and looking sour.

"Okay, that's everyone," Tadashi said. "Let's just—find someplace less wet and wait for this to blow over."

There was grumbling at that, which he could understand—the last time they had tried to wait out rain in the woods, they had gotten soaked to the bone and Della had broken her leg. No one really wanted a repeat of that.

But they were too close to people now—no chance of finding someplace dry where they wouldn't be discovered, they just had to hope for a less-wet spot in the woods where this ever-permeating drizzling mist wouldn't soak them _as_ badly.

And they needed to do it before it totally took away their ability to see. It was so gloomy _now_ that even with improved night vision Tadashi could barely see the next tree. Light pollution didn't help either.

He and 'Kase slowly quested forward as the others kept the kids corralled, Tadashi hyper-vigilant for any sudden drops—even at that he nearly slipped on the little slope they encountered.

"Hmm," 'Kase noised. "Would we be drier down there or no? We're closer to the rain up here, but water flows downhill…."

"It could be worth a shot," Sashi put in from behind. "We might run into a cave or overhang on the way down."

That was obviously tempting considering 'Kase didn't counter with anything—carefully start slipping down, reaching back to help lower the kids carefully—

Flinch at a drawn-out hissing and rush, coupled with a light further down the hill.

"What was that?" Sashi squeaked.

Brittany blinked, frozen in the act of handing Dewey to Tadashi. "Don't look now, Sashi, but I'm pretty sure that was a car."

Tadashi felt his face screw up at that; put Dewey down, carefully slip and slide the rest of the way down, claws gripping ground and trees and rocks to arrest his descent and yes that was weird think about it later—

Poked his head out of the bushes to see a strip of black asphalt snaking across their current path, hemmed in on either side by guardrails.

'Kase poked her head out of the bushes moments later. "Huh," she noised. "That's definitely a road."

"Better cross it now rather than later," Tadashi pointed out, backing up to look back up the hill. "Okay, keep coming down!"

No more cars came before everyone was gathered near the road, cementing Tadashi's decision to cross the road now—low traffic late at night meant low chance of being seen.

"So we're going to be asking _why did the bird-person cross the road, _right?" Sashi asked, earning him a dope-slap from Brittany.

"To get to the other side," Sue said, lowering a few more bird-kids down to them.

"Okay," Tadashi said, once everyone was looking out at the road. "Don't want to take any chances anyway, so grab a kid or two and run across the street, don't stop until you're over the guardrail, be careful because there might be a cliff or something on the other side instead of a slope."

"Right," Beth said, hugging Mei close and bending to scoop Drew up. "Come on kids."

Tadashi and Sashi steadied her as she went over the guardrail, watched as she skittered across the street, deposited Drew on the other side of the guardrail, and lifted herself over. She gave them a thumbs-up when she was safely over, prompting Tadashi to kneel next to Webby and Lena.

"Okay girls, see where Beth is?" he asked. "Go to Beth—run to Beth, okay? Hurry!"

Lena sniffed at the guardrail and hissed, but Webby ducked under it and scurried over, leaping over the second guardrail to land on Beth and hug her tight. Tadashi lifted Lena over as Sue picked up Harry and Taylor and scurried over.

Sashi glanced at Brittany, holding Drew—"Yes, I don't have to carry a sack of potatoes."

"Sorry, Sashi, you forgot Trisha," Tadashi said, handing the little bird-girl to Sashi. Brittany laughed, ran across the street, Dewey and Sashi scurrying after—Grump followed, Tadashi vaulted the guardrail as the rest of the bird-kids followed, Nox right on Tadashi's tail—

"Okay!" Tadashi said, once they were on the opposite downward slope. "Quick headcount—one two three four…."

Nineteen.

"Oh no," he breathed, looking around. "Who—"

Louie.

Louie was still on the road, apparently trying his darndest to pull up one of the reflectors on the yellow line—Tadashi ran out to grab him—come on, Louie, this was a curve and there was always a chance—

Blinding light suddenly flooded his vision.

He had always heard about deer in the headlights, how they froze in terror at the sight of a vehicle bearing down on them. Objectively, he knew that was a deer's instinct, but some part of him always wondered how you could stay frozen when a two-ton object was bearing down on you.

Stunned by the headlights screeching towards him, horn blaring, delivery-sized truck starting to skid in an attempt to stop, he realized he understood that—it was such a sudden shock that you couldn't process—

_It's going to hit us and we're going to die—_

Snap into action—snatch up Louie, transfixed by the blinding lights, wings limp, jaw slack, eyes wide, feathers plastered to him—flap once as he lunged for the downward slope, wingtips on one side smacking against the windshield of the snub-nosed truck—

Rolling down the hill, tucked into a protective ball around Louie, hoping he didn't get caught and snap a limb like Della had—finally tumble to a halt at the base of the hill.

They lay there, Tadashi breathing heavily, mind not wanting to process the near-death experience, heart pounding, barely registering Louie's claws digging in, the little bird-boy whimpering and rubbing his face against his chest—

And then the others reached them.

"_'Dashi!"_ at least three people yelped—bird-kids started flopping on him, were peeled off by the others, asking him if he was okay—

"'Dashi!" Sashi said. "Are you okay are you hurt does anything tingle? 'Dashi—'Dashi if you die I get the hat!"

Tadashi finally chased away the maddeningly unhelpful _still-silent-safe_ that was raging through the blank echo of his mind, finally had enough sense come back to him to unfurl a little and roll to his back. "The hat is mine. It's a thing."

The collective sigh of relief was concerning, but Sue and Beth helped him up before the kids mobbed him again. Started dusting him and Louie off as Brittany put his hat back on—some bent feathers, but nothing life-threatening—

Grump hissed, 'Kase told them to be quiet—

A flashlight was questing through the trees up the slope.

"All those in favor of getting out of here say _aye,"_ Sashi squeaked.

At least five people said _aye,_ and they quickly hustled the kids out of there, putting a few on Grump to cut down on travel time and picking up some of the others. Nox clung tight to Tadashi's back, Louie to his front. Right now, Tadashi didn't care—their weight was reassuring, meant he hadn't lost them.

"'Dashi," Violet noised, making grasping motions at him and leaning away from Sashi. "'Dashi yes 'Dashi—"

"I can take her," he volunteered, relieving Sashi of her. Sashi nodded, bent down and scooped up Huey, who warbled in relief and flopped his head on Sashi's shoulder.

They didn't stop until hours later, it felt like, when they found the outskirts of a junkyard and a school bus with open doors that was nice and dry and didn't seem like it had anything already living in it. Everyone found a semi-comfortable place to flop down and relax, Tadashi groaning when he laid down only to have several kids flop on him, Louie and Nox and Violet all squished on his chest or tucked between his torso and a seat back—try to ignore the fact that his feet clamped down on the armrest….

Was gone within moments.

* * *

Louie woke up with a squeak at the sun peeking into the smelly metal nest they were in right now, feathers standing on end before wilfing tight against him again. Hiss blearily, snuggle tight against the nearest flock nearest flight to blot out the bright-light and nasty smell—

_The monster bearing down on him with a horrendous screech, eyes bright and burning, hot breath gusting out with a terrible stench—_

But they were good now, far away from the thing that had tried to eat him, in what he was pretty sure was a dead monster, the smell was the same—snuggle closer to the one next to him….

Realize when arm flopped around him that it was 'Dashi.

Louie was hesitant—'Dashi was an older, 'Dashi might abandon them like other olders did, might hurt like _she_ had—

'Dashi had also saved him last night.

_Grab-hold tight-lunge, wingtip smacking the monster hard on the nose, curled up around him as they went tumbling down for ages and ages, didn't uncurl until the rest of flock of flight were there, kept hold of him in case the monster came back—_

Louie sighed, sinking in close to 'Dashi, into the space between arm and chest and wing…Nox stirred, chirped _question_—Louie churred that it was nothing, just bad-dream, go back to sleep…Nox settled in on 'Dashi's chest, asleep within moments. Nox had _trust_, believed that 'Dashi was good and safe and good and would always keep them safe because he was older-brother and good—

Did Louie believe that?

Sigh, move his head, rest beak on 'Dashi's shoulder, watching his face as he slept. That made two…three times 'Dashi had saved him. From the monster, from the cougar, from _her_…the others had _trust_ in 'Dashi, thought he was good and safe and good….

…Maybe Louie could afford to believe that.

Snuggle in close, snuggle in tight, breathing in 'Dashi's scent instead of the nasty dead monster's…maybe…maybe he could afford to believe that 'Dashi was good and safe and good. Maybe he could afford to believe 'Dashi had Louie's best interests at heart.

Maybe he could afford to put _trust_ in 'Dashi.


	22. Fair Winds and Flat Horizons

**Chapter 22, everybody! We're getting closer…and Sashi has joined Tadashi and the kids in getting the Lorax mad at him. Also, tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of me putting this story into its own dedicated document so...happy anniversary, _Safe in Brother's Wings!_ :D**

**Also, full chapter title is "Fair Winds, Flat Horizons, and Final Destinations"****—darn you FFN chapter title limit. *shakes fist***

**A lot of the beach portrayal in this and the next chapter comes from my own personal experiences with the beach—there's something inherently terrifying and fascinating about the beach at night. None of this experience involved California, however, so this required a day of poking around the Internet and looking up the area around San Francisco. Port Reyes is an actual national park that you _can_ visit (after the pandemic of course) and has a history of oyster harvesting. Also there really is a Muir Woods I don't know why that threw me especially after the Muirahara Woods in the show but there you are.**

**In other news, I have not read _Animorphs_, but like ninety percent of the population I have read _Harry Potter_—_Guardians of Ga'Hoole_ and _Chasing the Falconers_ gets a special mention for being Scholastic books that our local Acme was selling (I guess for back to school stuff) years ago that I had to talk my Dad into getting. Fast-forward to now, and Dad's as much of a die-hard Ga'Hoole fan as I am. :D**

**But please, read _Chasing the Falconers_ it's an awesome series that no one talks about and I don't know why. D:**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Yes—the hat of leadership is an excellent prize and one we can't let go to waste. :D And yes and yes! It took a while, but canon Louie is slow to trust as well so…I feel like it worked and I'm glad it went well. :D YES bits of emotion flying everywhere thank you I'm glad you liked it! :D**

**Hexyah, thanks for the review! Nooo, please don't cry! Although I am mincing around in the endgame area of the story now and if I have emotional opinions….Yes, _finally_ Louie trusts him and…um…._I don't like sad endings okay so that's not gonna be a thing but you may want tissues before it's all over._ D:**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

**The Lorax © 1971 Dr. Seuss**

**Harry Potter © 1997 JK Rowling**

**Animorphs © 1996 K.A. Applegate**

**Guardians of Ga'Hoole © 2003 Kathryn Lasky**

**Chasing the Falconers © 2005 Gordon Korman**

They were still a little damp the next evening, but no one really wanted to stay in the junkyard for another day, especially when Beth had woken up and shrieked at the rat Dewey and Webby had cornered. Threat of junkyard vermin _definitely_ got them moving, no one wanted to risk getting a diseased rat on them, Beth just plain old didn't want to _be_ around them ("My one grandkid has one and sure it's cute and all but _this is not that!"_), and Tadashi was reasonably certain the kids had been sizing it up and bugs were bad enough sure snakes were a maybe but he was _drawing the line_ at _rats_.

The good news was, it wasn't raining, and the act of flying dried them off well enough. The land below them was scrubby and barren of houses or other lights, and the longer they flew the better Tadashi felt—at least until he reminded himself that around San Fransokyo was populated, they'd really need to be seeing lights. And—wait, what was that?

Power-flap up, angle a bit, staring at the impossibly smooth horizon for a long time before what he was seeing sunk in.

"'Kase," he noised finally. "Is that what I think it is?"

"It is," she said, voice laced with triumph. "Who wants to go to the beach?"

There was a lot of excitement leading up to landing on the beach, and a lot of activity afterwards. Once the kids got used to the sand beneath them they went nuts, some trying to roll around in the sand, others running for shells and bits of driftwood—Webby and Trisha charged the shoreline, paused when their feet sank in the wet sand—fled screeching when the water rushed back over their feet.

"Well what'd you expect?" Tadashi laughed, crouching and catching the two girls, hugging them close and looking out at the water. "That's the ocean, girls—you could fly for days and days and days and never reach the end. Scary, huh? Isn't it something?"

"No," Trisha said, pointing at the ocean and hissing before burying her face in Tadashi's shoulder.

"Hey, that was a word, Trish! Say my name—is my name _Tadashi?"_

"No."

"Pretty sure it is, Trish."

"Whhhh Bbtthh."

"Oh now see, I'm hurt—I thought we had something special. Beth! You're in demand!"

Beth glanced over, was too preoccupied with the other kids. "You'll have to bring her over—a little busy—no, Dewey, we don't eat seashells—"

"Fair enough. Come on, girls—wuff, you're getting heavy—you've got rocks in your pockets, don't you?"

"'Dashi," Webby chirped, climbing up his chest a little to look back and point at the ocean. "_Ssshhhn_ okay yes no okay?"

"It's nothing to mess with," he assured her, depositing Trisha next to Beth—Trisha immediately tried to crawl up her side, prompting her to scoop the little bird-girl up. Webby hugged tight, not ready to let go—Tadashi hugged her back, turned to look up and down the beach….

Looked up and down again as something occurred to him.

He put Webby down next to Lena, told them to play nice—made his way over to where 'Kase was sitting, arms wrapped around her knees as she stared out at the ocean, strangely terrifying with only starlight and moonlight to show it.

"So what do you think?" he asked, sitting next to her.

"I have a lot of secondhand memories of not paying the ocean any mind," she muttered, jaw resting on her arms. "Seeing it now, myself…I don't know how that's possible. It's terrifying—it's too big."

"Well it _is_ the Pacific—that's the largest ocean there is."

"I still don't much care for it."

"More of a woodland-type girl, hmm?"

"You didn't come over to chit-chat."

"I might have," he countered, miffed—relented under her glare. "Fine, fine. The good news is, we found the ocean, we've found the California coast because I _know_ we didn't fly clear to the Atlantic. San Fransokyo is on the coast, we're close."

"The bad news?"

"I don't know _where_ on the coast we are—we could have come out south of San Fransokyo or north, and I can't tell which."

"I'm not going to be much help in telling you," she said, looking around. "Hmm…what about nearby towns? If you knew the names, could you figure it out?"

"I couldn't—but we might know some people who can. Come on."

They went back to the rest of the group, asked if anyone knew of any costal towns in relation to San Fransokyo as they helped corral the kids.

"I took a trip to Big Sur with my husband once," Beth said. "I know that's south of San Fran."

"We usually vacation on the _east_ coast—sorry, Tadashi," Sue said.

"I know we were _going_ to take a few weekend trips in some nearby national parks," Sashi said, scratching his head. "But other than that—ow." Look at his hand questioningly—Huey immediately caught it, examined the claws, started tugging Sashi over to the trees.

"Sashi Sashi yes Sashi _hrrr_ Sashi—" Huey insisted, tugging harder.

"Um, what are you doing, Huey?"

"I've been there, Sashi—just go with it," Tadashi counseled, waving him off.

"Er, what does he want?" Sashi asked, going with Huey.

"Remember the thing about waging war on the trees? Huey wants the Lorax mad at you."

"Not cool, Huey."

"So the important point is, we don't know where we are," 'Kase said, looking like she was trying to stave off being irritated by sheer force of will. "So how do we get our bearings? Pick a direction and go?"

"If we pick the wrong one we could lose _days_," Brittany put in.

"Exactly. So, I vote to go off while the rest of you stay here, investigate in a direction and bring back what I find."

"A scouting mission, basically," Sue said. 'Kase nodded.

"Not by yourself," Tadashi said.

"And not with you," 'Kase insisted. "Of the two of us, _I_ am not the one who looks like I'm about to drop dead from exhaustion."

Tadashi opened his mouth to argue with that—closed it when he couldn't. Not with everyone giving him those _you know she's right _looks.

"Not by yourself though," he insisted.

"I'll go too," Brittany said.

The way 'Kase was working her beak told Tadashi that she was trying to fuss out a reason for her not to and couldn't—of the lot of them, the kids weren't good picks, Grump couldn't be bothered, Tadashi was out on principle apparently, Beth and Sue were older and needed to conserve their strength as well, and she'd spend too much time sassing Sashi. Brittany was the best bet and she knew it.

"All right, _fine,"_ she spat, standing. "But you have to keep up."

"I can do that," Brittany said, standing as well.

Considering Brittany was in the air a wingbeat after 'Kase, Tadashi suspected so.

"Okay, I just had the weirdest experience," Sashi said, coming back over and looking at his flexing hands. "I'm not sure what to make of this."

"I feel your pain, man," Tadashi said, pointing at him before looking at Sue and Beth.

The women in question just looked at them with _bless your little hearts_ expressions. "You mean you haven't been doing that all this time?" Sue asked.

"I beg pardon?"

"Look," Beth said. "I have had a nailcare routine for _fifty years_—I'm not about to let it go by the wayside just because we're on some extended camping trip."

"I guess that's one way to put it."

"Plus sharp nails are a liability around kids," Sue said.

Tadashi nodded, considering…looked at Sashi. "You feeling a little…."

"Oh yeah," Sashi agreed immediately. "But…considering we've got some nice firewood and kindling…and a _huge_ food source—" this with a gesture at the woods and the ocean respectively before turning to the kids and pumping his fists in the air. _"Who wants to learn to dig for clams!?"_

Tadashi suspected Sashi might have hit on a way to keep the kids distracted and wear them out to boot.

* * *

Brittany had to admit, the view from up here was really something—she'd be sad, a little bit, when they were finally back to normal.

And they would be—they were so painfully close—if this fell through…she didn't know. She'd scream, probably, and then after that….

_The initial horror had faded into anger when she realized that these people had purposefully done this to her—she had rammed the glass wall repeatedly, charged the door whenever anyone came by to look—_

_Slung every curse she ever knew at _her,_ that awful excuse for a human being who was obviously in charge, who watched her impassively before moving on to the next poor sap stuck in the next cell. The guy across from her gave her a sad smile and a positive gesture, mouthed something she guessed was supposed to be encouraging. During the past…maybe few days, she didn't know—his balding head had been developing a shiny cap of feathers and his dark beard was starting to look more like nightjar whiskers and other fluff…always looking sad and defeated except when she flew into a fury—like she had reminded him that they shouldn't be taking this lying down._

_And then _she_ had taken him away, her and her goon squad._

_She never saw him again._

She had kept fighting, sure, but had slowly been breaking down as the sameness and isolation wore her down…they never dragged her away for testing, were probably afraid to, but _she_ would visit regularly to see how Brittany was wearing down, making little notes on her tablet before moving on.

Words could not describe the sheer loathing Brittany held for that woman. And if she ever found out who she was…she didn't know. Scream, probably, maybe chase her down and beat the everloving daylights out of her. Yeah, right, like she wouldn't end up in prison for the rest of her life over that. The sheer injustice of it galled her, made her glare even more poisonous—she hated this. She hated that that—that useless slime would get away with this, all of this….

'Kase glanced at her, made her realize that the other bird-lady had been glancing at her for quite some time now. "Are you okay?"

Brittany blinked to bring herself back to the here and now, shook her head a little. "Yeah, just…thinking."

"You look like you were thinking of murder. It's Sashi, isn't it? I'll hold him down for you if you agree to take turns."

"What? No, no, Sashi's…okay."

'Kase made a noise that made Brittany want to punch her, scanned the area—Brittany looked, didn't see anything but scrubland and ocean and beach and a gorgeous night sky that she hadn't realized she'd been missing. She should have been happy at the sight of civilization, she knew, knew that meant they were getting close, but she had missed seeing a billion stars in the night sky.

"So who was earning the murder-face?" 'Kase asked, looking back at her.

Brittany huffed, debating on sharing…oh what the heck. "I was thinking about _her_—you know, that—that weasel-fart of a woman that ran those labs."

'Kase nearly fell out of the sky laughing. "I'm sorry, that _what?"_

"Ah, you know, Tadashi's been on me about swearing in front of the kids."

"Do it anyway—he did. Remember that new word Louie learned?"

"Yeah, but then you get Sue and Beth giving you those disappointed-mom looks and I really can't take those."

'Kase made a humming noise in agreement at that, went back to surveying the area, silent for the longest time. Brittany imitated, reflected that that was probably the longest conversation she had ever held with the Blue-Jay-looking bird-lady.

"So," 'Kase drawled finally, not looking right at her, sounding like she wasn't sure about broaching the topic. "If this doesn't work out…what's your plan?"

Brittany blinked at her. "Go in the other direction. That's the point of scouting, right?"

"That's not what I meant," 'Kase said, looking at her again, this time with an intensity that made her expect hawk eyes instead of those dark ones. "I mean, if Tadashi's plan falls through—if the gene cleansers don't work, then what? What's your plan then?"

If they—no. No no no, they _had_ to work—she had a life to get back to, parents turning the state upside-down probably, a mom pulling out all the PTA stops and a dad who was now probably putting the _crisis _in _mid-life crisis_—her dumb little brother, the one that Harry reminded her of with his curly hair-fluff…he was probably selling all her stuff to his friends, figuring she had run away on an adventure like he and his friends had discussed, was probably expecting her to come sauntering up the driveway anytime with all the confidence that being seven brought. They all agreed that he'd grow up to be a salesman and the idea that she might never be able to go back to them hit her in the stomach hard and made her stagger in flight, all the confidence and grit and sheer spite suddenly abandoning her and making her forget how wings worked.

"Woah! Woah!" 'Kase barked, diving to get under her and try to bolster her back up before she went crashing into the sand, grabbed at her back with her back talons when her first attempt promised to have them both go down. "Stay with me—don't go yeep on me."

The odd word sparked a memory of a book series she had gotten into, made her look at 'Kase. "Do what?"

"Yeep—some word the kids are batting about. It works, so…."

She was surprised the kids even remembered her going through her best recollections of all the old book series that she had tried to summarize from memory for them (Sashi had been helpful with _Animorphs_ and Tadashi had surprisingly read and remembered _Chasing the Falconers_). The kids had always seemed most interested in hearing about birds, had drifted on _Harry Potter_ when they realized the main character wasn't a bird-person, ended up riveted on _Guardians of Ga'Hoole_ like her little brother that she might never see again and her wings were still refusing to work—

'Kase guided her to the ground, where she sank to the sand, trying to get her breath, get herself back under her—

"Brittany—Brittany I need you to stay with me," 'Kase said, shaking her shoulder a little. "Shouldn't have said anything," she muttered under her breath. "Should have listened to him—"

Brittany twitched, looked at her. "Listened to who?"

'Kase's ears flicked. "Tadashi," she said, not looking directly at Brittany. "He said he didn't want to worry everyone with what-ifs."

That idiot. "And what was his plan, then, if it didn't work?"

'Kase huffed, expression tight as she looked back at Brittany. "Every time he got thinking like that he might as well have gone yeep like you just did—I was the one who kept telling him to stay focused on the first plan."

"You did."

'Kase shrugged. "If it worked, it worked, and if it didn't we wouldn't know unless we went ahead and did it. I didn't want to be wasting energy wondering about what-ifs." She huffed again, glanced away. "In retrospect, he was probably right about not telling anyone about any worst-case scenarios."

Brittany balled her fists, pressed them to her forehead as she curled up, rocking a little, trying to get her metaphorical feet back under her—

"No—no you listen to me," 'Kase said. "I—ngh…I need you to stay with me, okay?" Shake her shoulder a little. "We're almost there—that was just—me voicing some…some unlikely scenario, okay?"

"Liar," Brittany muttered.

'Kase sighed. "Only a little."

Brittany looked at her, eyes feeling wet. "Why would you say anything?"

'Kase looked away, at the ocean starting to be visible in the pale morning light.

"I…I guess I didn't think…I'm not sure I thought we would make it this far," she said finally. "Anything after escaping the labs was a bonus for me."

Brittany shook her head, scrubbed at her face—no, no, stop it—

"Hey," 'Kase barked, prompting Brittany to look back at her—expression severe, like she was getting ready to attack. "You listen to me—I swore I'd never feel weak again. You're like that too, I can tell—don't let some what-if make you feel weak. You got me?"

Brittany nodded—but it was hard to stop emotion once you let it out. Sat there, trying to get it under control…'Kase surprised her by putting a wing around her, and she surprised herself by leaning into her.

"I'm sorry," 'Kase said. "I shouldn't have said anything."

"No I—" Rub at her face again, being careful of those stupid claws. "I'm…it would have happened sooner or later."

"Nah," 'Kase said, resting her beak on Brittany's head. "Personally, I like how you've been handling things up till this point—I can respect someone who'll bite someone's head off."

"Oh good—no wonder you never help with the kids."

"Not my skill set." Lift her head—Brittany looked, squinted in the blinding sunrise. "Think we could try flying a little farther before turning around?"

"Maybe," Brittany said, shielding her eyes—

"Wait." Squirm free of 'Kase, padding through the sand—

"What, what is it?" 'Kase asked, following her. Up to an old abandoned shack, door long gone, walls so salt-stained they were nearly white—it looked like…maybe….

Glance in, look at the corner—

Collapse to her knees, clasping a hand to her mouth.

"What?" 'Kase demanded. "Brittany, what is it?"

It was a little line of rocks, set up like a tiny house in the corner—one she and her brother had made when they had taken a day trip with their parents to—

Brittany practically dove back out. "I know! I know where we are! This thing—it's an old shack they used—when they used to harvest oysters—"

'Kase blinked. "Okay…."

"'Kase—'Kase were in Point Reyes—it's a day trip from San Fransokyo we're _close_ we're almost there!"

'Kase blinked, the information sinking in—

Brittany couldn't take it anymore—hug the other bird-lady, sobbing now. "We're so close—we're so close 'Kase we're going _home!"_

'Kase slowly returned the hug, resting her beak heavily on Brittany's shoulder.

"Yeah," she said thickly. "Yeah, that's…great."


	23. The Light at the End of the Road Trip

**Chapter 23, everybody! Who's ready for some fooling around at the beach? Please stay off the dune grass and—what? It's totally Tuesday, right?**

**Okay yeah real talk our power got knocked out yesterday by Hurricane Isaias (which looks like it should be pronounced like "Isaiah" but with an S but go figure). We drove around a bit after the storm blew over and got pizza at the beach but the power didn't come back on until evening, the TV didn't come back until midnight, and the phone and internet didn't come back until this morning. Sorry about that, it was technical difficulties beyond my control. ^^;**

**In other news…hoo boy I've got a lot of notes on this chapter….Sashi's imagine spot comes from the Captain America PSAs from _Spider-Man: Homecoming_, to start off with, and I'm pretty sure I read that JK Rowling did indeed name the Death Eaters after her friends. Also Sashi gets to regale us with prepper stuff again. Good times.**

**A lot of the beach portrayal in this and the last chapter comes from my own personal experiences with the beach—there's something inherently terrifying and fascinating about the beach at night. None of this experience involved California, however, so this required a day of poking around the Internet and looking up the area around San Francisco. Port Reyes is an actual national park that you _can_ visit (after the pandemic of course) and has a history of oyster harvesting. Also there really is a Muir Woods I don't know why that threw me especially after the Muirahara Woods in the show but there you are.**

**The seagull is inspired by my own experiences with seagulls—don't feed them, it ends up looking like that scene from Finding Nemo. D: Also, can't help but recall this one guy at this beach town we visit often, who was a jerk and threw his shoe at a seagull and injured it. Don't be that guy. :-(**

**Sand fleas, genus Emerita, are tiny crustaceans that you can dig up with your bare hands and use for fish bait. I looked it up because I was pretty sure the name we use was sort of a slang name (it is)—and 'Kase's right, they do eat these little guys as snacks in Thailand and India. In the US, not so much. :\ Regular crabs, in the meantime, have their lungs and what's called "mustard" inside that is actually poisonous to eat, so it's important to clean those out before eating them. Clams and oysters have to be cooked until they pop open. Crawdads are also known as crawfish or crayfish depending on where you live, and resemble tiny lobster. They're also most common in the American southeast, the exact opposite end of the country than our little group, but there's a genus that lives up in the Pacific Northwest, so…maybe I didn't fudge that hard? I don't know (also, love the fact that the nutritional value of these guys shows up in the Bing search XD). Also pretty much every single thing mentioned here needs to be cooked while it's still alive—I don't know why. *shrugs***

**Also plastic and tobacco products cannot be digested by animals but they will try eating it anyway because the shape is similar to their usual diet—ergo, don't be a butt, don't litter. :-(**

**In bird news, birds do bathe in dirt, dust, ash, and/or sand in addition to water, despite Tadashi's protests. Bird feathers are made of keratin like human hair and nails and therefore don't have any sensory reactors, which means that yes, crabs can pinch the end without causing injury.**

**Cardinals are classically associated with departed loved ones, and if you see one it means one of your dead loved ones has come to visit. It's a lot nicer than ghosts. :) Speaking of spiritual matters, Nox really shouldn't be worrying about the world flooding that already happened once and we were guaranteed it'd be a one-and-done deal. The world burning to a crisp, on the other hand….**

**In other news, I rarely laugh at my own work, but I couldn't help snickering at Sashi's one line—Tadashi's following line was inspired by my Dad's response when he asked me what was so funny and I told him.**

**Also, please no one tell the kids what rotisserie chicken is made of.**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! YES THEY ARE AAAAAAAH! It is. :D And I really enjoyed writing those two bonding so I'm glad you liked it. :D YESSS…it's the taste of success and the agony of angst….**

**Hexyah, thanks for the review! I'm not going to hate you for that—it's a really pretty movie! It just tried to cover six books at once—if you don't know the books then it's fine, it's when you do that you question it (I actually wrote an article for work about how _Guardians of Ga'Hoole_ would work better as a TV show—someone make it happen, please). I still enjoy watching it though. :D It's because it hurt writing it too….**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

**Harry Potter © 1997 JK Rowling**

**Guardians of Ga'Hoole © 2003 Kathryn Lasky (going yeep)**

**The Scorpion King © 2002 Chuck Russell; Stephen Sommers (one scene kind of comes from that movie)**

**Maximum Ride © 2005 James Patterson**

**Maze Runner © 2009 James Dashner**

**Pirates of the Caribbean © Gore Verbinski; Disney**

Tadashi was actually kind of sorry they hadn't stuck to waterways this whole time, if this is what beach living got them.

He wasn't lamenting not flying or walking as they waited for the girls to come back, and the kids were so focused on what Sashi was teaching them about finding food on the beach that he actually had very little to do except lay on his stomach, cushioning his head with his arms and laying in a shallow divot the kids had dug out for apparently no reason beyond because they could, wings spread and tail fanned, enjoying the contrast between cool sand and warm sun.

"Always loved the beach," Beth said, teaching Trisha and Mei how to dig with a clam shell.

"Mmm," Tadashi noised, not opening his eyes. "Are the girls back yet?"

"No, not yet, it's still early, stop worrying for five minutes and actually enjoy this."

"Working on it," he said, folding his wings in so he could roll onto his back. Crack his eyes open to scan the skies—clear blue with the occasional cloud drifting by. Very peaceful.

At least, until distressed squawking reached his ears.

"Oh no," he muttered, catapulting upright, looking around—_"Della."_

Della had apparently dug a hole she couldn't climb back out of, and when Dewey tried to help her out he ended up falling in with her. Grumble as he got up, crossed over, hauled them both out of the hole.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, as Dewey and Della cheered at their save, Dewey crawling up his back to shriek as Tadashi made his way back to the little bonfire they were keeping active. "Della, we need to talk about you trapping yourself like that."

Della shrieked and chirped in response—flopped down when he put her down in the divot and started flopping her wings around, sending sand everywhere.

"What—_no_, stop that," he said, picking her back up. "Trust me, sand everywhere is _not_ a fun feeling."

"Especially when it gets places you can't address in public," Beth muttered, causing Tadashi to splutter for a few minutes.

"You know," Tadashi said to Della, when he could talk again. "I'd actually kind of like it if you were just—you know, just dial it back, just a little?"

"No!" Della shrieked, flailing around before sitting up with the intent of bolting—Tadashi caught her.

"Oh hey that was a word—can you say my name Della? Is my name _Tadashi?"_

"DAAAAH!" Dewey shrieked, too close to his ears to be comfortable, before diving at the sand again and rooting around.

"I wonder about you guys—just want you to know that."

"You'll get used to it," Beth assured him.

* * *

_Ocean_ was big and vast and huge and scary—'Dashi had said that you could fly for ages and ages and ages and never see the other side, and no matter how high they flew they couldn't see the other side like they could with _river_ or _stream_—it was too big, an impossibility to take in, and it scared Nox.

_Beach_ was all right though—_beach_ had things buried beneath the sand that Sashi actually said they _could_ dig up, and they did with gusto. It felt good, their claws slicing through the sand, curling around objects and pulling them up—especially when Sashi said _yes we can eat that_. So far they had found lots of _clam_ and one or two angry pinchy things that Sashi called _crab_ that would scuttle sideways to get away and pinch at them when they tried to grab it—Webby, Della and Dewey were quick to challenge and harry pinchy-crabs, but Lena was the one who figured out that if you poked it with stick or wingtip it would pinch _that_ and then you could take it over to _fire_ and Sashi would flip it in and hold it in with stick until it crackled and steamed and turned tasty inside and showed them how to crack it open and what inside was good to eat and what was _no don't eat that_.

Beach-food was fun to eat—the others with _beak_ could crack food open and slurp it out of crunchy-shell easily. Nox couldn't just _crunch_ like that, Nox liked _crab_ because he could crunch down on crunchy-shell and slurp it out, and he and Lena often used claws to pry food out instead. It was never a lot in one piece of food, but it felt different, being able to run up and down beach and dig food up—like they could _do_ something about the hungry-gnawing feeling in their bellies instead of begging and hoping for _food_ to come.

Lena was also currently sitting on a small hill, watching the waves—he padded over, whistled _question._

_Too-big_, she told him. Too-big with no end maybe it _was_ the end maybe if you flew too far that way you'd find where the sun nests at night maybe sun nested in _ocean_ so its fiery feathers wouldn't catch the world on fire.

Nox sat there, tipping his head this way and that, wondering how it was that if the sun nested in the ocean in front of them, how was it that it flew back up into _sky_ on the other side of the world? 'Dashi would know—bound over to him, tug and point and squeak and whistle _question_ why why why—

"What is it?" 'Dashi asked. "You want to know more about the ocean?"

Yes yes yes what was it really it looked like _water_ but tasted like salt and _blech_ and it was too much too scary this had lots of food but it was bad-nest. Snuggle in close as 'Dashi told him how all sorts of things lived in _ocean_, things so huge and strange he couldn't begin to wrap his mind around them, that did nothing to assure him that ocean was anything but scary.

Della managed to wriggle free and bounce back along beach with Dewey, shrieking _challenge_—Nox hesitated, touching wing to 'Dashi—look at him and warble—

"They're not back yet," 'Dashi said. "Just stay within sight and don't go in the water, okay?"

"Okay," he chirped, bounding after Della and Dewey—staying out of _ocean_ was easy because he had no desire to go into _ocean_ _ocean_ was noisy and scary and went _roar_ and splashed up huge wet wings that sucked things back into it hungrily and made him wonder if _ocean_ was eating land and if someday it would devour it all so they had nowhere to perch and land and nest until they too crashed into _ocean_ from exhaustion and was eaten up as well.

It was a thought that made him shudder violently, and prompted him to shove it away—he didn't need a thought like that.

Webby bounced and shrieked for attention—Nox bounded over with several others, looked where she was bouncing and pointing and _shree_ing _look-see-that-look!—_

Bird.

They all _fwee_d and watched, attentive—birds were important, birds were feathered like them and showed how to do things and dig for food and what to eat and how to fly would chee at danger and chatter about the area, all important things to know. Sometimes they would be _blue jay_ that would shriek at anyone new in their territory, sometimes they were _cardinal_ that talked of things and others and places far beyond even clouds, would sit on twig and tell them there were others that had passed on who were still watching and wanted only happiness for them. It was comforting to know, even if Nox still had only a vague grasp of what was not here to be seen now—he pictured it like an invisible cloud of 'Dashis that flitted around like the smaller birds and kept an eye on him, and felt like it confirmed that there was something up above clouds to see someday.

But this bird was not _cardinal_ was not _blue jay_ was not a bird they had seen before, gray and white with big long wings that twitched as it glided in a circle, folded in when it—

They all shrieked in dismay when it hit _ocean_, made 'Dashi jump up made Sashi spin around going _what-what-what—_they pointed, wondering what had made the bird fold up and crash maybe it had gone _yeep_ like Brittany said like 'Kase said—

And then it came soaring back up, fish in its beak.

They chirped and _shree_d at that, impressed, wondered how the bird did that as it came in for a landing on the beach, bound over as it swallowed the fish, chittering _question_—

The bird lofted away, as birds did when they suddenly found themselves the source of interest, squawked _what-you-strange-peoples?_

"Hey come on, guys, leave the seagulls alone," Sashi called.

Nox's ears twitched—looked back at the bird and whistled _question-peoples?_

The bird, as birds did, seemed very confused at them talking, answered _peoples-not bird-no feather._ Bobbed its head at them as it realized that they _did_ have feathers, looked at Webby and Huey when they pointed at _ocean_ and chittered _how-how-how?_

Flap, flap again, say that _fish_ made feathers stay not-wet, that one must eat lots of _fish_ and other tasties that could be found on _beach_, padded away on webbed feet, pointed out that when _ocean_ crashed forward and hissed back that bubbles in sand showed where tasties hid—ran forward and tugged something out of sand and ate it.

_Food_, it said, before padding to something on the beach that they had skittered away from because it smelled bad had seen it before where all the lights were and sharp-scary-_BANG_ had been. _Not food_, it said, squawking that it had seen others like itself die from eating such things and had since then tried telling others because birds such as itself would often eat anything they found _not always smart thing_ it counseled.

"Guys," 'Dashi said, padding up to them as the bird bounced away. "Stop bothering the seagulls—seagulls are not for eating, okay?"

They squawked at him because _seagull_ had feathers like them that would be bad eating one—'Dashi waved it off when it circled around him, squawking _confusion_ because _has feathers but shaped like peoples peoples mean food but sometimes throw things what why how—_

"Hey hey hey shoo we don't have French fries," Sashi said, waving at it too—Nox climbed on 'Dashi, tweeted and chirped their thanks as the seagull circled away to dive in _ocean_ again.

"I don't know, what do you think?" Sashi asked, watching the seagull dive too.

"I think I'd rather not," 'Dashi said, looking at Huey tugging Sashi over to point at the thing the seagull said was _not good for eating_ and ask _what why what—_

"Oh yeah, we're back to civilization," Sashi sighed, picking up a stick and poking it. "Hate people that do this."

There was that _peoples_ word again, this time in _words_ instead of their language—they whistled _question,_ Lena and Dewey and Della following the line of wet sand and fleeing back to dry whenever _ocean_ tried to grab them—Nox chittered _worry-no-don't_ at them—

Della shrieked in triumph, dug into wet sand and pulled out _clam_, Lena digging out something else and whistling _confusion_. Violet came over, Nox slid off 'Dashi to go see—

"Uh, no," Sashi said, taking the thing away from Lena before Violet could eat it. "We don't eat sand fleas."

"We don't eat _what?"_ 'Dashi asked.

Sashi pinched the little thing between two claws to show 'Dashi. "Sand flea. Great fish bait…if we had some way to catch a fish."

_That _prompted a quick discussion because how they had been taught to fish wouldn't work with _ocean_ and the way _seagull_ fished wouldn't work because their wings didn't stay not-wet in water—Violet reminded them that _seagull_ said that eating lots of _fish_ and other tasties from the beach would let them swim to which Webby and Dewey and Della all shrieked that they needed to find _ALL_ the tasties so they could get fish from _ocean_—

"Oh come on," 'Dashi moaned as they bolted in search of tasties.

"At least they'll sleep good tonight," Sashi said.

* * *

They herded the kids up to the treeline as the day wore on, trying to explain to the kids that you didn't want to be on the beach in the middle of the day. Nox was really the only kid in danger of getting sunburnt, but the rest were probably risking dehydration at this point.

Sashi led the way in following a stream until it ran fresh, filling up the canteens and heading back to the fire to boil it, watching the stream for anything that looked fish-shaped.

"Pretty sure the water's all right here," Sashi said.

Tadashi tried very hard to suppress the sigh at the kids diving into the water, rooting around for crabs and shrimp and clams and chasing after fish flickering away. "Or it used to be."

"The important thing is, we didn't get the muddy stuff," Sashi said, screwing the lid onto the canteen. "And that probably feels good after hot sand." Wade in—"Oh yeah, that feels good."

Tadashi huffed, stepped in to get the kids—okay yeah that did feel good. "Come on kids, let's get back to the girls—Della _no_ don't get your leg wet—" Caught Della, haul her up—Dewey popped up with a shriek and a stick, something that looked like a little lobster clinging to the end. "Sashi! What is this?"

"Crawdad," Sashi said, looking at it. "They're good eating."

"So thus far the only thing that hasn't been good eating were those sand fleas."

"I'm sure someone somewhere was hungry enough, but we have options—come on Dewey, let's get that to the fire."

Dewey cheered and followed Sashi, leaving Tadashi to herd the rest—it got easier as some of them found clams and oysters and ran to follow Sashi, but he did have to grab Violet too.

"You kids are a mess," he said, hauling them back to the others.

The kids chittered at that, insisted on going back to the stream—Beth and Sue volunteered to go with them, and in short order there was a line of downtrodden dune grass leading between the stream and the fire, Sashi having to continually build the fire up to accommodate the new clams and crabs the kids brought. Tadashi went back to the stream once or twice to check in on everyone, found Beth and Sue teaching the kids how to weave things with the grass ("It's summer camp stuff" Beth had informed him) and keeping the kids from going too far up or downstream. Nox spotted him, dragged him upstream with a few of the others to investigate, protested when he made them turn around because oi that was some muddy ground.

They also protested being made to wash off, but after they had a few mats made the more exhausted kids didn't object to sprawling out in the sun and drying off as they took a nap. It was well into the afternoon when Tadashi was able to flop down against a tree and relax.

"Clam?" Sashi asked, holding one out. "This one cooled off."

"Eh, I'll wait," he muttered, tugging his cap down lower over his eyes and wondering when was too soon to get up and check everyone again. Most certainly shouldn't check north again, it had been five minutes since he had done so and while he should be worrying about the girls they _had_ said a day or two but still.

Silence but for the splashing from the stream and the crashing of the waves and the crackling of the fire. With the dappled shade on him and the cool breeze, it was _very_ tempting to drift off.

"This isn't so bad," Sashi said finally. "I guess…if things don't work out, we could do this."

"What?" Tadashi asked, pushing his cap back up.

Sashi hesitated. "I…it's stupid."

"No, tell me."

"Just…." Sashi poked a finger in the sand, swirled it around, not looking at him. "I…you know, the gene cleansers…I was thinking worst-case scenario was…if they didn't work."

That made Tadashi's heart thud painfully in his chest. "They'll work." _Unless you're a clone, in which case you're SOL—_

Sashi held up his hands. "I know, I know! I just—it's a prepper thing. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst." Shrug, still not looking at Tadashi. "Honestly, I've been going through the whole 'so you're a bird-person now what' list since waking up like this."

Considering that might be Tadashi's future…."What's on the list?"

"Find someplace without a lot of people but with a good source of food and water, preferably someplace without strong weather or season flux…part of me was seriously debating about going to our Montana place and hiding there. Except, you know…bears."

Tadashi almost laughed at the way Sashi automatically checked the skies for 'Kase at that.

"So," Sashi sighed, looking back down. "My stepdad taught me that you're supposed to think through everything, run down the list of essentials over and over again in your head so when you have to get out of dodge, you can. I think…I was doing that, before you got us out of there—it kind of kept me sane, gave me something else to think about."

Tadashi couldn't imagine. No, wait, maybe he could. "Like me focusing on my family."

"Kinda? Strong focus on what you want." Look around, down at the waves crashing onto the shore. "I've…kind of been entertaining this notion—like that _Maximum Ride_ book Brittany was talking about? Like, doomsday happened while we were in the labs, or we were snatched because it was happening, like with _Maze Runner_—and this is…whoever those people are, they're trying to make like…this super race that'd survive whatever…or maybe they just saw an opportunity to do awful tests and took it. Maybe we're working so hard to avoid populated areas and there's nothing to avoid."

Silence reigned between them for an age, it felt like.

"Wow," Tadashi said finally. "That is both terrifying and awesome."

"Nah," Sashi said, scratching his neck. "Everyone thinks surviving doomsday is cool until they learn about all the nitty-gritty stuff that goes into it. Like digging latrines."

"That does sound gross," Tadashi agreed. Consider. "Well, if you're right, I want to get my family out of San Fransokyo—not sure what the general populace would think of bird-people."

"Would probably shoot you because you're a weird mutation and you might be contagious."

"Gee thanks. Check to see if anyone else has family in the area and then…I don't know. What's the prepper opinion on settling near the ocean?"

"That water is nothing to mess with, be careful because while the gas lasts we might be having to deal with pirates—"

"Ex_cuse_ me? Like Captain Jack Sparrow, those pirates?"

"More like Barbossa but with machine guns. And because of big storms and flooding you'd have to be careful, because we wouldn't have a means to predict it coming in advance…so if you settle near water, make sure you're on high ground and deep in shore."

"We really should do that anyway, but there's no fixing stupid."

"Hi Beth," Tadashi greeted. Nodded at the two kids she had. "Casualties of war?"

"The good news is, they sleep as hard as they play," she said, lowering Della into his arms. "So what are we talking about?"

"Sashi's got this working theory that we slept through doomsday."

"I know my husband would," Beth said, adjusting her hold on Violet as she sat down.

"It's not a working theory," Sashi said. "It's sort of like…_oh wow that's such a stupid idea let's think about that instead of our current problems."_

"I like that—fill me in."

Tadashi brushed some sand off of Della as Sashi went back over his theory, less hesitant now that he knew he wouldn't be laughed off the beach. Adjust her little aviator hat and try to scrub some of the salt air from the goggles—they weren't exactly working goggles, stitched to the hat as they were, but that was to be expected from something he had found in the kids' section. They held up well though—with the way the kids played and roughhoused, he kept expecting the glass to break. Maybe it was plastic. That could be it.

"So we get everybody gathered up—then what?" Beth asked, when Sashi finished. "The beach is off limits, obviously."

Sashi shrugged. "Not sure—my plan would be to head for Montana—my parents would head for the safe house when things hit the fan, and even with me missing they'd bank on me doing the same thing." Tip his head, thinking. "I'm…not sure how long they'd give me, or if after a while they'd give up, or if they'd come looking."

Beth reached over and squeezed his wrist. "They'd trust that you'd come to them."

Sashi nodded, like he wasn't entirely sure.

"Hey Sashi," Tadashi said, leaning forward a little. "How would your parents react to a bunch of bird-people on their doorstep anyway?"

"I…don't know," Sashi said, considering. "I _think_ they might be understanding? I don't know, genetic mutations were only during the way-out-there prepper meetings. Usually when someone brought really sugary desserts."

"Now wait a minute, you never told me there was dessert at these things—now I want in."

"I'll think about vouching for you," Sashi said, looking over at a snort. "Maybe not Grump."

Grump huffed at Sashi as he padded up, flopping down near the fire and apparently ignoring them all.

"What, don't like the beach?" Tadashi asked—looked down when he felt Della stretching. "Mornin', Della."

"Mrrfff," Della noised, yawning and rubbing at her eyes. Blink up at him—start nibbling on his coat.

"Hey Della _no_," Tadashi said, tugging his coat out of her mouth. "I still need to wear that!"

"Maybe you taste good," Beth suggested.

Sashi hesitated—lifted a corner of his shirt and sucked on it.

"I taste extra-salty," he announced.

"You should be salty after this trip," Beth said, not missing a beat—looked up at them. "What? I have grandkids."

"Tell you what," Tadashi said, snickering. "Whatever theory's true, I think we might turn out all right."

Now it was his turn to get a wrist-squeeze from Beth. "I think we will too."

"Is it cheesy if I say _me three?"_ Sashi wondered.

Grump's rumble suggested he thought so.

* * *

Beth eventually handed Violet off to Sashi, came back with Sue and the rest of the kids, all varying levels of tuckered—Nox padded over to Tadashi and crawled into his lap, squawking with Della until they came to an agreement about seating arrangements.

Tadashi spent the squawkfest pretending he was deaf. It didn't help.

"You know, for now I wouldn't mind hanging around the beach," Sashi mulled, stretched out on his back with his hands behind his head—it was a questioning level of comfortable in Tadashi's experience, but since he had Huey and Drew stretched across him he was going to have to live with that choice. "I know my parents have the place in Montana, but we didn't have wing logistics to consider—we could be within flying distance of a beach and then fly inland every evening."

"Did we give up in favor of the beach life?" Sue asked.

Sashi filled her in on his now-working theory, which Beth had helped him iron out. Sue nodded, had her own suggestions to add. Tadashi ended up leaning against the tree with three kids in his lap (Webby had apparently decided Tadashi was the place to be to nap).

"You should write a book," Sue suggested when he finished.

"Hmm…_My Life as a Teenage Bird-Person,"_ Sashi mused. "No one would ever believe it was autobiographical."

"You could tell everyone it was with dead seriousness and they'd all think you were pulling their legs."

"I'm liking this idea—you guys want me to change your names or no?"

"I want my name in there and I want royalties," Beth said.

Sue considered. "You know, I was going to say that if J.K. Rowling's friends still talked to her after she made them all Death Eaters I could handle that, but I'm liking the royalties."

"We'll have to work out a percentage," Sashi decided. "'Dashi, what about you?"

"Well gee, guys, I was just planning on suing the lady and being done with it," Tadashi said, only half-joking.

"Nah," Beth said. "She probably has a big company backing her, big companies like that like to declare bankruptcy and liquidate so they don't have to pay out. The tell-all book works better."

Grump rumbled something, eyes closed.

"What was that?" Tadashi asked.

"He said you'd get killed for that one."

"'Kase!" Tadashi yelped, pivoting as best he could to see her coming in for a landing, Brittany close behind—the latter jumped over Grump, ignored his dark growling—

"I know where we are!" she blurted, practically vibrating with excitement. "We flew around a bit to make sure—we're in Point Reyes National Park. San Fransokyo is straight down the coast from here."

The only sound for the next few moments were the bird-kids happily greeting the two girls.

"That's—" Tadashi breathed—that was _great_ that was excellent news that meant….

That meant do or die, it would all be over soon.

His stomach suddenly tied itself in knots, suggesting that maybe—suggest staying at the beach for a bit longer, anything to delay finding out for sure, finding out that he wasn't the real Tadashi, anything to avoid that potential disappointment—glance at 'Kase….

'Kase wasn't looking at anyone. 'Kase was looking sour, and if looks could kill she would have blighted the tree Tadashi was leaning against. Right. He…needed to talk to her.

In the meantime—direct his attention to where Brittany was excitedly relaying everything to the others, Sashi nudging some clams over that had been baked in the coals, everyone vibrating with excitement. It wasn't fair to them to delay this final hope in the face of normalcy returning.

"So when do we leave?" he asked when Brittany had finally exhausted herself, glancing at her and 'Kase. "You girls haven't been lazing around on a beach stuffing yourselves silly—now's a good chance to do it."

"What have you been eating without us?" 'Kase asked, tone lightly accusing as she sat down next to him, seeming to sense his offer of a minor delay.

"Oh not much, just crabs, clams, oysters—some weird lobster-thing called a crawdad. Sashi wouldn't let us eat sand fleas though."

"Those are actually edible," she told Sashi.

"Yeah, but we had other options," Sashi said.

"Who cares about _eating_ right now we're like a day away from eating at home with our families let's _go!"_ Brittany protested, popping back up—Tadashi shot a desperate look at Beth and Sue—

Sue was in a better position, handed Trisha off to Beth so she could stand and put her hands on Brittany's shoulders.

"Brittany, breathe," she ordered. "I'm excited too, but we're not flying until night, right?" she asked, glancing at Tadashi. He nodded. "So there's still a few hours—get at least a _little_ something to eat and take a nap so you don't fall out of the sky later."

Brittany looked like she wanted to protest—finally relented, sagging against Sue as she pulled her into a hug. "I just want to go home."

"We all do, honey."

Tadashi glanced at 'Kase—poked at the kids on him. "Hey kids, you want to show 'Kase how we find things at the beach?"

Webby cheered, tugging on 'Kase's arm and pointing at the beach. "Yes 'Kase yes _sshhen_ no sand yes crab-ow yes—"

"Yeah sure," 'Kase said, getting up. "_I_ didn't lounge around on the beach all day eating seafood platters."

"We also had the drinks with the little umbrellas," Sashi put in.

"Okay and now we're moving so Sashi doesn't get murdered," Tadashi said, finally working his way free and ushering 'Kase away. "Come on kids—one more dig for dinner and then we nap the rest of the day."

Nox cheered, bounded after him, Della hobbling after as best she could until Tadashi shooed her back to the others. "Okay maybe you should nap a little more—"

"NO!" Della shrieked.

"I hate to tempt fate, but what trouble can she get into on a beach?" 'Kase asked, gesturing.

"She dug herself into a hole earlier," Tadashi supplied.

"Shame on you," 'Kase said to Della as she hobbled back over. "Only dig holes you can get out of."

"Feh," Della noised, before pursuing after Webby.

Tadashi waited until they were out of easy earshot before addressing 'Kase. "Are you okay?"

"Sure," she said, sounding a little brittle. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Stress?" Tadashi guessed. "I'm pretty sure I have gray hairs now."

"Well that's you—_I'm_ fine." Look down at Webby tugging on her feathers—accept the clam she handed to her before running off again.

She and Tadashi were quiet for a few long moments, her looking anywhere but at him.

"We could stay here," she suggested finally, tone almost desperate, begging. "It's nice enough here. And there's food," she added, looking at the clam in her hand, absently dusting sand off of it.

"We could," Tadashi agreed. "But would that be fair to everyone?"

She hesitated. "No," she admitted. "But I told you, about looking out for number one."

He hesitated…laid his hand on her arm.

"Hey," he said softly. "You can stay with us as long as you need to. I already told you my aunt won't mind. She—" Hesitate—a moment where an old memory had snapped to the fore. "She has a good track record with…."

"With lost causes?" 'Kase guessed.

"If you'd call her two orphan nephews that, yeah."

She looked at him, and it occurred to him then that he had never shared that little part of his life—little! Like having the two most important people in your childhood ripped away from you was a little thing. Hiro was too young to even _remember_ what happened.

'Kase's eyes were flicking, like she wasn't sure how to respond to that information; Tadashi decided to give her an out. "Be prepared to eat ice cream for breakfast for a while though."

That _did_ get 'Kase focused on him. "I'm sorry, what?"

Tadashi shrugged. "Hey, it works. No sugar for these guys though," he added, indicating where Nox and Della were busy digging a trench and then screeching when the ocean washed it full of water and sand.

'Kase looked calculating. "Now see, you _say_ that, but now all that makes me want to do is see what happens."

"'Kase, _no."_

"'Kase yes. I'm hitting up the first vending machine I find."

"I created a monster," Tadashi sighed.

* * *

Everyone did manage to get an hour or two of sleeping in and at least one or two bites to eat before Sashi doused their fire at nightfall. Some of them took a running start at getting airborne along the beach, but Brittany practically shot into the air this time—everyone did, almost. This was it. This was the final destination they had been angling for.

San Fransokyo. Any time now and it'd be appearing on the horizon.

Tadashi tried to ignore the butterflies getting chased by angry snakes in his stomach—this was it, this was it this was totally it come tomorrow or the day after he'd know for sure and then….

And then it'd be either heartache or heartbreak. He'd either be back home, hugging his family tight, or flying away, with the horrible truth that they had never been _his_ family to begin with.

Despair made his wingbeats sluggish, made him want to dive down into the forest they were angling over, trying to avoid the wind increasing from the ocean. He had to know—he had to know so he could stop worrying like this.

That didn't make it better, though.

He started at a wingtip being layered over his, glanced over to see that it was Grump, of all people, giving him a look that could have almost been sympathetic.

_The gene cleansers won't work on clones._

Grump had made this whole trip knowing that for him, it was probably all for naught.

"Sorry," Tadashi said, glancing at 'Kase, almost expecting her to comment—she had slid out of point for this, letting Brittany lead with the excuse that _well you've got to learn sometime and it's not like we can get lost right now_. "Just…thinking. We'll still fix this, it just might…take a bit more."

Grump's expression suggested he found Tadashi's persistent insistence on grabbing onto hope amusing. Not advisable, but amusing.

"Hey, if we don't figure it out, who will?" Tadashi asked, trying to shrug around an armful of Violet and wings keeping him aloft. "Darn, I should have been buddies with someone from the biology department…."

Grump chuffed at that.

"Was that—was that a laugh? Guys! I've finally reached success!"

"One of the kids added the _Tah_ to _'Dashi!"_ Sashi guessed.

"No, but that's a goal—I made Grump laugh!"

"Wow," 'Kase said, glancing back. "You must be exhausted for _that_ to happen."

Grump rumbled something.

"Hmm, he says you're hallucinating, Tadashi."

"I am not, I heard it," Tadashi insisted, glancing at Violet. "You heard it too, right?"

"Meh," Violet noised, still mostly asleep.

"My witness fell asleep on me."

"That'll never hold up in court," Beth said.

"Hey!" Brittany yelped, redirecting their attention forward—

To the glowing horizon to the south.

"Refresh my memory, just so we're clear," 'Kase said. "The sun goes east to west, right?"

"Right," Sashi confirmed. "So that would make that…."

"Light pollution," Beth said.

"From a city," Sue added.

"And not just any city!" Brittany cheered.

Tadashi nearly fell out of the sky in relief. "San Fransokyo!"

Everyone's pace picked up at that, relief thrumming through Tadashi so hard that something snapped inside—

And then the kids started falling out of the sky, screaming.


	24. Phase Two

**Chapter 24, everybody! And the start of what I consider part two of the fic—won't say for sure yet that it's halfway because I've got everything written up to Chapter 41 and I'm not 100% certain it ends on Chapter 48, but there's enough of a major difference that I'm satisfied with saying we're now in Part II. :)**

**Also y'all better read the title like Fred says it. XD**

**And now for the fun bit of writing trivia: from this part onward was kind of written concurrently with the first half of the fic, so I didn't lose track of what I wanted to write—I was _about_ on Chapter 39 with bits and pieces missing between that and Chapter 32 when Part I met up with Part II. Fun stuff. :)**

**And once again, my knowledge of Californian geography consists of a couple of browser searches please forgive me and accept my fudging of the San Fransokyo Bay and the surrounding area. Also not entirely certain marijuana has been legalized in California, and probably _wouldn't_ be in a Disney film, but Disney bumped off canon!Tadashi so we don't care what they think. And yes, in medieval times they did get a flogging conga line going—this was before television, you realize.**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! AAAH DON'T PANIC WE FIND OUT THIS CHAPTER! D: Yes Baymax and everyone else SOON *screams with you* Ahahaha, thank you I'm glad you love it! :D And I will always love writing the bird-kids' antics so glad you liked them. :D**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

**An Extremely Goofy Movie © 2000 Disney**

**Adventures of the Mask © 1996 Dark Horse Comics (The "I'll be Beethoven" bit)**

_Tadashi was standing on a stage, looking out across a darkened audience—nothing to see except the spotlight surrounding him._

_"H-hi—my name is Tadashi Hamada, and I am here to present my research project," he managed into the microphone. Oh come on—just jitters, he had been working on this for months. "My…project is…." It should be Baymax, right? Check his notecards—_

_Shuffle through them all quickly—all blank._

_"Uh—over here, we have—" shuffle over to a table, tug the cover off to show feathers—flip his notecards over. "The project is…for the genetic cleansing of bird-people, so they can live happy, normal lives. Now I know this has been a recent problem—" Didn't his hoodie have sleeves? Shouldn't he be better dressed for this? "But recent breakthroughs, such as Sycorax's genetic cleansers—" his fingernails were dark, ending in curving points._

_Something was wrong._

_"T…Dashi…."_

_Look up—_

_Recoil in horror at the people he knew pinned up like dead bugs, blood trickling down—oh please, please may those messy remains on the floor not be wearing Hiro's hoodie—please, everyone stop staring at him with those eyes—_

_"Fail."_

_Something snatched at his feet, yanked, sending him crashing down hard on the stage—wrenched himself around to see that blackness had seized his legs, that Callaghan was towering over him—_

_"You know what happens when you fail here."_

_Yank—sending him flying, crashing into a flaming showcase—no—no no—_

_"—Dashi!"_

_No._

_"NO HIRO NO!" Tadashi screamed, spotting his brother in the flames—debris had him pinned—he had to save him, he had to—_

_A wall of blackness surged up—_

_"HIRO NO BEHIND YOU!"_

_"Dashi—Dashi—"_

"Dashi-Dashi-Dashi—_Daaah-shiiiii…."_

Tadashi jerked awake and upright, breathing hard—a dream. It was just a dream. Scramble a little, eyes darting everywhere—

Nox and a couple of the other kids were staring at him, looking vaguely miserable.

"S-sorry," he muttered, scrubbing his head under his hat before rubbing his face. "Sorry," he repeated, searching the kids' faces. "Hey come on, what's wrong? Don't worry about me—just a bad dream." He hoped.

Nox and Webby exchanged glances before looking at him and scrubbing at their heads.

"What? What, you don't have lice, do you?" he asked, tugging Nox a little closer to check. Oh please don't—

Huey was looking concerned as he warbled and squawked, gesturing quite a bit with his hands and rubbing at his head repeatedly.

No lice on Nox—check Webby for bugs next, still with Huey and now Lena trying to explain something.

"I don't understand," he told them finally. "You're going to have to tell 'Kase—unless…Huey, Webby, words?"

"Bad," Webby said, Huey nodding agreement. "Bad-bad-no good-bad—"

"Okay, so we're going to have to talk to 'Kase," Tadashi groaned, struggling upright with kids hanging off of him—it looked like it was getting on to sundown; they'd be going soon.

_Soon everything would be fixed and done for, for better or for worse—_

"'Kase!" Tadashi called, working his way around the kids now dancing around his feet and chanting for attention. "Help—I don't speak bird."

"You should really learn sometime," 'Kase countered, giving him a smug look before listening to the kids. "They're still bothered by whatever it is that's wrong with this place."

The fact that suddenly none of them could tell which way north was, she meant. Almost as soon as they had flown over Muirahara Woods that near-constant pull had snapped and went fuzzy—one of the reasons they had landed in _this_ particular clearing was that it had been so sudden it had startled the kids nearly clean out of the sky. It had taken them _hours_ to get the kids calmed down, and by then it was day and they had to wait to go flying the rest of the way.

Apparently, they were still bothered by this—and apparently, it bothered the kids more than it did the adults.

"Okay," Tadashi sighed, rubbing his face. There were butterflies flapping little icy wings all through his stomach—it was now or never, he'd know one way or the other soon enough. "Okay," he said, a little louder, a little more forcefully. "I'm going to need everyone's attention."

He explained the plan in short order: he and 'Kase would go to the warehouse, get the gene cleansers, and get out, while everyone else stayed put and out of sight.

"Hopefully, nothing will go wrong," he said, butterflies turning into gas molecules as everyone—well, the adults at least—started registering what he was saying. Normalcy just a few moments away, basically…their expressions were breaking him; he _had_ to get this right. "But just in case—if we're not back in…." How long was too long?

Beth came up and put a hand on his shoulder. "If you're not back, we go to the bay."

Tadashi let a deep breath out—right. "Let's say two days," he said. "If we're not back in two days, follow the river to the bay. If we don't meet you there by the end of the third day, something bad happened and…."

"And we'll worry about things being that dire at the end of the third day," Brittany said, arms crossed. "Stop standing there worrying about it and just _go already."_

Tadashi nodded. "Right. So…."

"So this is where you give us the cool Arnold sendoff of _I'll be back,"_ Sashi suggested.

"Only if you promise to reply with _I'll be Beethoven."_

That got some laughs, at least, and Tadashi felt better about leaving them, at least temporarily.

_Simple, in and out, on with life,_ he told himself. _Not more than a day._

"No."

Stop at the tug on his hoodie, look down to see Louie looking up at him, fingers dug into the fabric and eyes wide with concern.

"No," Louie repeated. "No bad _stay_ Dsshi—"

Scoop him up and hug him tight. "I will be _right_ back, okay? Behave for the girls. And Sashi. Okay?"

"Okay," Louie muttered, not eager to relinquish his grip as he was handed to Sue. "Okay…okay…."

Sue hugged Louie tight, looked at Tadashi with a smile that didn't quite dispel the worry in her eyes. "Be careful, okay?"

Tadashi nodded, suddenly not trusting himself to talk—slipped off after 'Kase.

"_Finally,"_ she huffed, winding through the brush. "They can't miss you if you don't leave."

"And when did _you_ watch _An Extremely Goofy Movie?"_ he asked her.

"Don't be a knucklehead—_honestly_."

"My goal once we knock eating, sleeping and bathing out is to get you watching movies. I've already got an extensive list—really hope you don't have any plans for the next few months."

'Kase huffed at him and ignored him for the next minute, lofted up first when they reached a suitable clearing. Tadashi took a few tries to follow.

"You know, you're going to get that right the very last time you ever do this," 'Kase told him, circling overhead as he powered up.

"That's my suspicion," Tadashi said, following her through the growing twilight—even without being able to tell where north was, San Fransokyo was hard to miss. "So how are we going to do this? Getting in once we find the right warehouse."

"I think we try being girl scouts selling cookies."

"You laugh, but they legalized weed—the guards _might_ let us in if they have a bad case of the munchies."

"Hmm," she noised. "I do recall my original's penchant for making sushi with the poisonous parts still in them—we can see how _that_ goes."

"Maybe an option that _doesn't_ end in death."

"Oh please, no one _died_ from it—do you know how hard it is to get a job in this city as a sushi chef with that on your record?"

Grumbling and grousing behind him prompted Tadashi to look—"Grump, we didn't invite you."

"He's arguing that a cloned thief and a robotics major should have brighter ideas on breaking and entering, he's coming because he's certain we'd screw it up, no we can't tell him to shove off we don't tell him what to do, and you have other problems."

"Like what?" Tadashi asked Grump.

"Oh no, that last one was my addition—behind you guys."

Grump twisted around to look, Tadashi angled a bit to see—

_"NOX!"_ Tadashi squawked, recognizing the smaller form flapping behind Grump.

"'Dashi!" Nox greeted, dipping a little and power-flapping to get closer. "Dashi-Dashi-Dashi—"

"Oh no—no no no no—'Kase we're landing, pick a spot."

'Kase sighed, angled around.

A few moments later, and they were landing on a beach at the mouth of the river winding past their camp, right where it fed out into the bay.

"Perfect," Tadashi said, before rounding on Nox the moment he touched down. "_You_—go back to the others. You—" Pointing at Grump. "Make sure he gets there."

Grump huffed and very pointedly sat down.

"Then fine—you two stay here."

"He didn't even listen when you told him to stay at the camp," 'Kase pointed out over Nox's chant of _no-no-no-no-no_. "Come to think of it, he never listens to you."

"I want to argue the point, but I really can't—Nox, what are you even doing?" Tadashi asked him, trying to hold him at arm's length. "You can't come with us—it's going to be dangerous."

"'Dashi," Nox said, tone stern as he finally hooked a hand in Tadashi's hoodie.

"Look, we're going to have a hard enough time sneaking in as is," 'Kase said. "By the time we get there we should be hitting at swing shift, and you can't convince him to sit still when you leave his line of sight—if you wanted to slip away that badly you should have waited until he was asleep or distracted, and I'm pretty sure that would have only worked temporarily."

"'Kase, please stop making points," Tadashi muttered, rubbing his face. "No, Nox, you can't come."

"'Dashi yes," Nox insisted. "'Dashi yes Dashi-Dashi-Dashi—"

"He's a kid," 'Kase said, arms crossed as best she could manage with feathers. "He doesn't understand that you're coming back when you go away."

Groaning was starting to look like a tempting option. "We can't take a _kid_ on a _heist."_

"Ooh, we upgraded to _heist_—listen, there's a group of kid vigilantes running through the city, a kid on a heist is nothing."

Tadashi gave her a baffled look, had to look at Grump to point at her and question—was surprised to see Grump nod and then give a little half-apologetic shrug.

"And when we get there, Grump can babysit," 'Kase said, giving the griffin a smug look.

Grump looked like he was planning on sitting on her and not moving until a 9.8 dislodged him.

"Okay, okay, _fine_," Tadashi sighed, waving his hands and conceding defeat. "But you," he said, pinning Nox with his hands on Nox's shoulders and giving him his full, undivided, _I am the one in charge and you'd better listen _attention. "No going all over the place, you stay on my tail unless I say otherwise, when we get there you are _staying_ with Grump, and then we're flying straight back to camp. Got it?"

Nox seemed more taken with Tadashi's full undivided attention than he was with anything Tadashi was currently saying.

"Too much," 'Kase said.

Tadashi sighed—yes, he figured as much. "Okay, two things, how's that?" he asked Nox, freeing a hand to hold up two fingers. "One: you stay on my tail. You stick with me, okay?"

"Okay?" Nox echoed.

"Stay with 'Dashi, yes? No flying around doing stupid stuff, yes?"

"Yes-yes-okay-okay—"

"Two," Tadashi said, ticking off his second finger. "If I tell you to _run_, you go like something's chasing you, okay? You get out of dodge and you come _right. Back. Here._ To this spot, where we're supposed to meet up. Okay? Something goes bad, you run."

Nox seemed to have lost Tadashi's thread.

Tadashi sighed. "I say _run,_ you come _here._ Yes?"

"Yes," Nox chirped.

"Good," Tadashi moaned, straightening up—no, dawn wasn't upon them, although he was certain a few more gray hairs (feathers, whatever) were upon _him_. "And by the way—when we get back you're looking at the mother of all time-outs."

"No-no-no-sorry-no—"

"Don't give him such a hard time," 'Kase said. "He just wants to be around you."

"Yeah," Tadashi sighed. "But the last time I just said _screw it let 'em tag along,_ Della broke her leg."

'Kase huffed, blowing her fringe out of her eyes. "Fine, flog yourself—remind Sashi about the bear when we get back and you can get a conga line going."

"They used to do that you know," Tadashi called after her—too late, already up in the air. Turn his attention to Nox, whistling and chirping, eyes raking the far shore.

"And what do you do?" Tadashi asked, redirecting Nox's attention. "Where do you stay?"

"'Dashi," Nox said, pointing.

"Right. And if I tell you _run?"_

"Run. _Hiiirr,"_ Nox said, pointing at the beach.

_"Here._ That's right." Tadashi pointed at Grump. "You know I blame you for this—he doesn't get this misbehaving streak from _me_."

Grump huffed and launched himself into the air after 'Kase. Tadashi tried a few times—

"'Dashi—Dashi-Dashi-Dashi," Nox said, waving his arms and wings. "'Dashi—fly." Crouch down, wings all the way up, tips touching each other—jump back as he flapped down, do it again when he jumped forward, flapping a few quick times to keep him hovering around eye-level. "Fly—up—fly."

"Are you _schooling_ me?" Tadashi asked, trying not to be amused—Nox chirped, landed on his shoulders, dropping down to hug him from the back—Tadashi glanced up, spotting 'Kase and Grump circling, both of them looking impatient. "Okay, okay—get off me, let me try again."

"No," Nox said, when Tadashi crouched. "No-no-no up-up-up—" followed by a lot of squawking and squeaking that Tadashi had no clue how to translate. Straighten up, crouch, wingtips touching each other—"Yes-yes up-fly _up!"_

Nox was up in the air in a flash—Tadashi pushed off hard, trying to time his downstroke—his wings brushed the sand—beat down hard—touch down—try again, more force—airborne this time.

"Yes maybe fly yes," Nox chirped, doing quick lazy circles around Tadashi as he powered up, no effort to his soaring at all.

"Showoff," Tadashi muttered. "So maybe I'm not the best at this."

"Like I said," 'Kase said when he came even, already angling for the city. "You'll get it right just as we're turning back to normal."


	25. San Fransokyo

**Chapter 25, everybody! Yes we made it finally we're in San Fransokyo! :D Which is much cleaner and better-kept than San Francisco can we trade cities? **

**Lots of opportunities for references to the show _my time has come._ *dramatic pose* Also kind of picture Nox diving in front of Grump with the same musical sting of Zazu diving in front of Simba in the elephant graveyard of _The Lion King_. Also for a fun reference: the lot number for the gene cleansers is the date I put this story from a catch-all document to its own dedicated document—7/29/2019. :) Had been working on it for most of that month (the earliest thing I can trace to it is a Tumblr post I made shortly after starting it on July 13th of that year), but considering when I first started it was about thirty pages in two days, having it in its own document in less than a month makes sense.**

**Again, the gene cleansers are based on the ones from _Spectacular Spider-Man_, and while those _are_ yellow I also picture them as being that same golden color as the medicine from the movie _Balto._ Love that movie. :D**

**Also…Y'ALL REMEMBER THE REST OF THE CAST OF BIG HERO SIX, RIGHT!?**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Yeah, Tadashi should have realized this too. Oh wait that's a good point—they probably saw Grump leave and figured if Nox wasn't with them he'd be with Tadashi. ^^; Yes…straight-laced good-brother Tadashi going on a heist Hiro will never let him live this down….YES! Me too! And thank you, I'll do my best! :D**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

San Fransokyo, in Tadashi's humble opinion, had always been an absolutely gorgeous city—a clever mix of Asian and Western styles in the buildings, gleaming lights, clean streets—other cities may have had dirt and grime, but San Fransokyo had long enjoyed the benefits of its scientific population, who in turn made all sorts of ways for the city to stay clean and glistening and bright; not to mention the general mindset that kept the place taken care of, with brushed sidewalks and clean windows. Oh, and let's not get started on the food—delicious food, again a point where East met West, and the best of the best came from the Lucky Cat Café.

Okay, maybe he was a little biased on that last one.

But fond memories, of zipping through this place on his moped, speeding through the streets with Hiro hanging on tight, cheering and begging for him to go faster, even though he was flirting with speeding tickets—memories that felt much too real to be implanted. For the first time since that awful idea occurred to him, Tadashi felt as if there was nothing to worry about—that this time tomorrow, he'd be home, hugging his family tight, eating the best cooking in the world—introducing everyone to everyone. After the couple months they just had, they'd eat Aunt Cass out of house and home, probably.

But he felt great—he felt a hundred percent better—it was just a matter of putting it all into perspective.

And speaking of perspective, he had never actually seen San Fransokyo from this angle before.

They were flying as high as they could manage, above most brownstones but not even a third of the way up most skyscrapers, turbines still high above them—people and cars were colorful dots below for the most part, some elevated portions bringing them closer. It was a unique perspective, dizzying to look upon, and he was filing away ideas on how to return to this altitude without feathered wings to use later—firstly, to let Hiro see it.

Secondly, because _he_ wanted to see more of it later. Mostly because right _now_, he was constantly checking Nox and adjusting to keep him from diving down. As it were, he was honestly surprised they weren't attracting a ton of attention with the way Nox kept squawking and shrieking, constantly pointing and looking at Tadashi and going _'Dashi! 'Dashi!_

"Nice, isn't it?" Tadashi asked him. "You just wait—Noodle Burger, the movies, SFIT—" Maybe he needed a bit more time for that one. "My Aunt Cass's cooking—and you're going to love my brother Hiro. Hey! Whatever he tells you, bot-fighting is _not_ a good activity, okay?"

"Okay! Okay!" Nox cheered, flapping up—Grump, behind him, looked weirdly amused, as though someone had said something awkward or annoying that was still entertaining somehow.

"Don't give me that look, Grump—back me up here."

Grump ignored him, became very interested in the bay as they flew nearer, now angling over warehouses.

"That's San Fransokyo Bay," Tadashi told Nox, continuing to play tour guide. "And that's the Bay Bridge—it's nice that we can see it, I'd hate to be trying to fly in fog right now."

"We lucked out, I'm guessing," 'Kase said, angling low and scanning the streets and warehouses—they were getting close, they _had_ to be getting close—

Tadashi waggled a wing at Nox, also staring at the bay now. "So, what do you think?"

"Bad," Nox said, pointing at the bay. "Bad-bad no good bad—"

"What?" Tadashi asked, looking at the bay—he didn't see anything to prompt that sort of reaction. "No, it's supposed to look like that. Oh hey, see right there? That's Alcatraz—it used to be a prison, so that might fit the _no good bad_ bit—and that smaller one there, that's Akuma Island—wow, it looks like someone took a bite out of it."

"Krei blew part of it up," 'Kase called back. "Something about getting rid of his old projects or something like that."

"He blew—okay, Nox?" Tadashi said, looking at the bird-boy in question. "When we get back to normal and go about our day-to-day lives, you _might_ run into someone named Alister Krei—try to avoid him."

Nox gave a confused _fwee_, tipping his head—looked back at Grump when the griffin rumbled something, dipping his head as he did so.

"'Kase, please tell me Grump is agreeing with me," Tadashi called.

"He said that Krei is an idiot who doesn't wear ties because he can't tie them and doesn't even have the brains to run a vending machine, let alone a company," she said, now flying up and down the streets—Tadashi angled up and started banking to watch. "Along with a lot of other statements about his intelligence that I don't have the patience to repeat."

"Wow," Tadashi noised, looking at Grump. "None of that had better been things you shouldn't be saying in front of kids."

Grump snorted at him, looked back at the bay—started flying that way, backwinged when Nox dove in front of him, flaring his wings.

"No," Nox said sternly. "No bad-bad no-good bad—"

Grump growled, started to angle around—Nox dove in front of him again, screeching this time.

"Nox, _here!"_ Tadashi barked, waving—he didn't know what got into the little bird-boy, but he'd rather avoid Grump batting him out of the sky, if it was all the same to him.

"Hey, I think I got it!" 'Kase called, distracting all three of them. Tadashi angled around, saw her flapping in front of a DNA logo—followed her around the side of the building to see _Sycorax_ stenciled across the brick.

"Yes!" Tadashi cheered. "Is this the only Sycorax one?"

"The only one I've seen," she reported, winging up to the roof. "Now let's hope their security sucks."

Tadashi touched down next to her, nerves jangling—Grump landed next to a skylight, Nox landing next to Tadashi and whistling in a questioning tone.

"Okay, Nox, remember what I told you," Tadashi told him as they followed 'Kase to the skylight.

"'Dashi," Nox said, hooking his fingers in Tadashi's hoodie.

"Okay yes I did say that—you stay with Grump while 'Kase and I go shopping, okay?"

"Shopping," 'Kase repeated, tapping the glass cautiously. "Cute."

"'Dashi _no_ 'Dashi _stay_ 'Dashi—" Nox started, tone insistent.

"Hey—_hey_. It's not going to be that long, okay? Five minutes," Tadashi said, both hands on Nox's shoulders—and then one over his mouth when he sucked in a breath. "Sit with Grump, count it as your time-out, okay? Then we can fly some more, okay?"

Nox whimpered, expression crumpling.

"Hey, it's okay," Tadashi said, hugging him close as 'Kase told Grump to help her lift something. "It's okay—it's going to be real quick, okay? Real quick and then we'll be on our way, okay?"

"No," Nox whimpered, hissing when 'Kase and Grump succeeded in getting the skylight open. "No-no-no bad no-good bad—"

"Only if we take too long, and you don't have to go in, okay?" Tadashi asked, putting his hands on Nox's shoulders again. "Stay here with Grump, okay?"

"No _'Dashi_—"

Tadashi held up a finger, pointed it at Nox. "You. Stay. Put. Here," he stressed. "Next to Grump. Sit on him if you have to," he added, looking at Grump, who huffed and looked away. "We will be _right back_. Then we can do flying, okay? Lots of flying. And some really good food for once."

Nox perked up a little at that, chirped and whistled as Tadashi planted him next to Grump. Turn to 'Kase, who looked amused—

"Ladies first," he offered, gesturing to the skylight.

"You're too kind," she said sardonically, slipping inside. Tadashi looked in, saw her flare her wings a couple of times before touching down in a crouch…okay, he could do this….

His landing wasn't nearly as graceful, but at least he didn't break anything on impact.

"You're a lousy thief, I'll have you know," 'Kase informed him.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Tadashi groaned, struggling to his feet. Look up to see Nox and Grump peering down through the skylight. "Stay there, okay? _Stay!"_

"I'll give you two minutes before he's down here after you," 'Kase said.

"I don't think so," Tadashi said, looking around. "Nox didn't seem to like it here."

"Three then," she said, shrugging before looking around as well—and sniffing, oddly enough. "It's got a smell I recognize—maybe that's his problem."

"I'm sorry, there's a _smell?"_

She tapped her beak. "Oh come on, 'Dashi, don't tell me you can't smell anything."

He humored her, sniffing the air. "I don't know—there's something, but it's probably warehouse or mildew."

"It's neither. It's definitely something I smelled at the labs before. I'm surprised you don't smell it."

"Well excuse me for being late when they were handing out the super senses," Tadashi said, ignoring her amused snort. "Let's just—find the gene cleansers, okay? We're looking for lot number 7292019."

They split, him checking one side, her checking the other, pausing frequently to make sure it was just their claws takking on the floor and that they didn't have company—

Grump rumbled something, prompting him to turn—

And nearly choke himself upon realizing he wasn't alone.

"I can't tell," Tadashi called. "Was it two minutes or three?"

"You must have company," 'Kase guessed.

"I do. _Nox…."_

"'Dashi," Nox noised, hugging him. "Dashi-Dashi-Dashi—"

"Don't _'Dashi_ me—I _told_ you to stay with Grump."

"'Dashi _yes_ 'Dashi _hiiir_ Dashi-Dashi-Dashi—"

"All right, _fine—_but _you_ are getting the _mother_ of time-outs when we get back," he said, pointing at Nox—and then covering his mouth before he could do more than suck in a breath. "And no tantrums right now, okay? We've got to be quiet, okay? Can you be quiet?"

"Shh," Nox noised, when Tadashi finally moved his hand. "Shh 'Dashi—"

"Okay good—now remember, _quiet,"_ Tadashi whispered, keeping a grip on one of Nox's hands as he continued to move through the warehouse, wincing at the occasional click of his claws—Nox, surprisingly, wasn't making a noise, not even the clack of claws on concrete.

"How are you doing that anyway?" Tadashi asked him, pointing at his feet.

"'Dashi," Nox whispered, lifting a foot and flexing his toes. "'Dashi yes 'Dashi _shh_ 'Dashi—"

"Like this," Tadashi said quietly, pointing at his feet.

Nox looked. "No 'Dashi no _shh_ up no—" Tadashi tried lifting his toes, pulling the claws up—"Yes 'Dashi good yes _shh_—"

"Well this is going to be fun to try to walk with," Tadashi muttered, scanning the boxes—they had to be getting close, there were only so many shelves—

His heart nearly stuttered to a halt when he saw the lot number he was looking for—speed through the rest, scanning the tags—they were close they were close they were _close—_

"Haaa," he breathed, chest suddenly too tight as he finally found the box he was looking for—_the_ box—"'Kase!" he squeaked—try again—"'Kase!" Let go of Nox to pull the box out—"'Kase!"

"'Dashi _shh!"_ Nox hissed—ah right.

"I'm trying to get 'Kase, okay?" he said to Nox, glancing around—the box wasn't as big as he thought it would be—only the size of a shoebox—put it down, work to get into it—heard takking—looked up to see 'Kase running up the aisle.

"What? What?" she all but squawked.

"I think we found it," Tadashi said, finally getting his nails in, finally able to lever the lid open—

Vials clinked, golden liquid within, separated by wooden partitions—gently pull one out to see the needle, to see that all it required was a stab like an epi-pen, push down on the end—

"This is it," Tadashi breathed, giddiness sliding through him. "This is it—this is it this is what we've been looking for this is what gets us back to normal!" Put the vial back in before he broke it, hands shaking—the temptation to use one _now_, to just run back to his family—quaking as he put the lid back on—"This is it—this is what fixes us." Couldn't help the hopeful look at 'Kase. "No more bird legs no more tails no more feathers no more wings just _normal_."

She was grinning, hands gripping her knees—she was shaking too—

Glanced up, expression falling. "Um…."

Tadashi's attention snapped around, braced for it to be a guard or something—

Nox was staring at him, stock still, feathers plastered to his skin, jaw trembling—absolute paralyzing horror. What—

"Nox," he started—

"No," Nox breathed, taking a skittering step backwards. "No no no no no—" Tadashi managed to catch his arm before he could bolt—"_NO! 'Dashi NO no bad no-good BAD NO—"_

Tadashi had a moment—a moment to wonder what on earth had prompted this behavior—saw Nox's terrified eyes flick at the box. Look, back at Nox—

It clicked then. "Oh. Oh _Nox_…."

"_No no no no no no no—"_

Tadashi managed to tug him close in a hug, a tight one, ignoring Nox trying to push away. "Nox, _no_—it's okay, it's okay—I wouldn't do something that hurts you, okay?"

Nox pushed again—finally collapsed against him, sobbing. Of course—of _course_ Nox would see no problem with the way things were—none of the kids would. As far as they were all concerned, having wings and a tail and feathers was _normal_.

"We have a problem," he declared, glancing at 'Kase.

She shrugged, stepped forward and plucked up the box—glared at Nox when he screeched at her. "Oh you hush—we came all this way, we're taking _something_."

"Nox," Tadashi said, wracking his brain for _some_ idea to get him to stop, to get him to see, to be okay with this. "Nox, there's—there's nothing _wrong_ with what I just said—there's tons of people who don't have feathers or wings or anything like that, but they get along fine—" High keening, this wasn't helping. "I'm not going to make you do something that'll hurt you—you know that, right?"

More hiccupping, more sobbing—it took several painstakingly long moments before Nox was anything even remotely resembling calm; Tadashi had to settle for _not crying as hard as he had been_.

"It's okay," he repeated, hugging him tight. "I'm not going to make you do something that'd hurt you, okay? You know that, right?"

Nox made several noises that Tadashi couldn't make heads or tails of—glance at 'Kase, who shrugged.

"Hey, Nox," Tadashi tried, knowing at least one thing that would get Nox's mind off of things. "What do you say to going flying, huh? Fly back to the others and tell them everything you saw."

More hiccupping, but it was starting to slow down, be punctuated by other noises….

"Yes?" Nox coughed finally. "Yes fly yes?"

"_Yes,"_ Tadashi gusted in relief, pulling back enough to rest his forehead against Nox's. "Yes, we're going flying, how's that?"

"'Dashi," Nox said thickly, still looking wounded—it'd take a bit for him to forget the idea of losing his wings. "'Dashi yes 'Dashi."

"Good boy. Come on, let's get up and out of—"

Something made him freeze, halfway up—could sense 'Kase tense behind him, saw Nox's ears shoot up, saw him spin—

Footsteps.

"Okay," he hissed. "Time to go." But where? Up to the skylight? They'd be practical targets doing that. Look to 'Kase, hoping she had an idea—

She gestured at him, pointed, motioned for him to follow—he did so, keeping an arm and wing wrapped around Nox, some disconnected part hating that it was taking almost no effort to do so, that moving his wing like that was almost second nature now—

'Kase peered around a corner…handed the gene cleansers back to him.

"No," Nox half-hissed, half-whimpered as he took them—Tadashi winced, knowing _why_ she had handed them to him; she needed her arms to fly.

"'Kase just needed me to hold something," he whispered to Nox. "Now _shh_."

Nox nodded, trembling so hard that some tufts of down drifted loose—'Kase slipped around the corner, Tadashi stooped to collect the down, knowing full well that it could potentially be used to make another Nox—

Something whizzed above his head, _clank_ed against the next aisle—look up sharp—

Nox shrieked, body twisting as Tadashi picked out the item on the floor, registered it as a tranquilizer dart.

_"RUN!"_

It was a bellow that had ripped out of him before he could fully process it—grab Nox, haul, dodge around the next aisle as another dart hissed by—

A guy at the next aisle hollered—shot a laser blast at them—the skylight—forget any other exit his panicked mind was screaming _SKY-SKY-SKY the air was safe sky was safe FLY NOW!_

"Nox!" he gasped, spotting the skylight, flung the boy in the air—"Skylight—Grump—_NOW!_"

Nox was screaming a pure note of sheer terror, wings beating out of sync, limbs flailing—went sprawling on the floor, scrambling to get upright, to run—Tadashi flailed, shooing him up into the air—grab something off of the shelves, throw it back at the guy aiming at them—

He wasn't sure what exactly was in that, but it exploded quite impressively, several multicolored clouds gusting away—

"_Guys! Up here, quick!"_

Look up to see 'Kase powering up, managing to slip through the skylight—Nox beating his wings frantically—

Tadashi grabbed another vial of something important-looking, launched straight up, desperation and fear giving him extra impetus into the air—scan the rows, spot the other guy, throw the vial at him—Nox was out of the skylight—

And then he was slipping through, screaming for them to not stop, _KEEP GOING!_—

And then the sky was alive with dark—_things_—darting in and out—he wasn't sure if it was plain old security drones, people in jetpacks, or mutated monsters—all he knew was that his mind was screaming that _they had to get out NOW_ that Nox and the others were in danger _he_ was in danger they had come too far to be taken down like this _now—_

Grump roared—he spotted the griffin diving—yelled at Nox to dive after him, through the moment of clear air—something came too close to 'Kase, but she spun, kicking it hard—

Still too many—they'd be taken down without ever presenting a counter—

Which meant he had to come up with a better plan.

"Grump!" Tadashi yelled—shoved the box at the startled griffin when he looked over. "Get this out of here! 'Kase!" Spin—that guy was definitely a guy in a jetpack, who was now definitely a guy going down with a broken nose. "Everyone! Out of here, back to the others!" Felt something _way_ too close to his back—dove sideways, looking—

Saw 'Kase with her back talons dug into another security guy, taking him down.

"And let you have all the fun?" she asked, looking ultimately fierce in that moment. "_GRUMP! YOU HEARD HIM, OUT OF HERE!"_

Grump snarled, dove away—

"_NOX!"_ Tadashi hollered, breaking away from his next heartstopping skirmish, scenting singed feathers from a security drone's lasers. _"NOX, RUN! REMEMBER WHAT I SAID!"_

_"'DASHI!"_ Nox screamed, flailing away from more dark security guys-drones-what-have-you—Tadashi didn't know what they were, didn't _care_ what they were, all he cared about right now was the fact that _these goons were attacking a kid were attacking HIS kid that he had promised to keep safe—_

The smaller drones were easily scattered by his dive bomb, bigger security goon flailing now with him on the guy's back, claws digging in as he tried to find a way to stun him—a punch, a chokehold, _something—_

_"NOX, RUN! Just run! I'll find you, okay? I'LL FIND YOU!"_ Tadashi bellowed, throwing his weight back—

During the dizzying fall, he did indeed manage to glimpse Nox doing as he said, fleeing with a terrified shriek—saw several security drones pursuing him—

And then his attention was preoccupied with the security guy driving punishing elbow blows into his ribs, making the bones creak, driving the wind out of him—his wings were flailing and not getting any air—had to disengage, had to save himself from this death plummet—

Couldn't let the other guy go splat either.

One punishing punch to the head, driving his own claws into his fist and drawing blood—but the guy stopped flailing, gave Tadashi the chance to angle out of the barrel roll, fling his wings open—send them skidding along the ground, Tadashi rolling several more feet before momentum finally ceased.

"Ow," he muttered, gingerly pulling his wings in, trying to force himself upright before his body agreed with the action—everything ached, feathers felt bent, the wind had been driven out of him and hadn't come back yet—put a hand on the pavement to shove himself up, felt slick blood pooling—

But distantly echoing, he heard Nox screaming.

Shove himself upright, grinding his teeth—no—he didn't come all this way to lose anyone now—not like this, not when they were so close—

'Kase streaked overhead, screaming what sounded like a war cry, throwing her feet out, grasping a security drone, spinning and flinging it at a guy chasing after her, diving to avoid more drones, causing them to crash into each other—she was good, but she was outnumbered.

He had to help—he had to help her, and he had to find Nox—

The intense need of the moment burnt through any hesitation or other block—like when Violet had been in danger, like when any of the kids had been in danger—knowing that someone was in trouble and he had the ability to help—well, he had dove headfirst into stupid situations before, to save someone.

This was not like SFIT though—these were people he knew and cared about, that he knew for a fact depended on him deeply—there was no time for _trying_ to get into the air.

He realized this right as he slammed into the first guy and saw 'Kase's stunned expression.

"Where did _you_ come from?" she demanded.

"Later—Nox?" he heaved, diving to avoid a security drone's lasers.

"Elsewhere—we need to lead these goons away first—follow me!"

Dive after her, world narrowed down to just them and the danger following—wingbeats altering between stronger and fake-faltering—they couldn't lose them just yet—they had to make sure they were led _far_ away from Nox, that they weren't following Grump back to the others—

'Kase suddenly swerved left, Tadashi following—flinched, eyes and ears closing at the sudden assault of light and noise—out of the warehouse district, towards the populated parts of San Fransokyo—

"What are you _doing!?"_ he demanded, glancing behind. "We can't lead them towards _people!"_

"Lots of moving objects means they'll lose us!" she shot back. "Now time to disappear! Go!"

She angled up and one way, he angled down and another, cursing under his breath—this wasn't a proper alternative, people could get hurt like this—he needed a way to ditch these guys, some way to do this _without_ endangering someone else—

_Hiro could be down there—or Aunt Cass—or Honey Lemon or Gogo or anyone I care about—I need a different alternative—_

Angle again, swooping above and away from the drones with a twist, diving back towards the warehouse district—he'd figure something else out there, where a crashing drone wouldn't hit someone, where a stray laser wouldn't—felt the feathers on the back of his neck stand on end, dove right before the lasers arced through where he had been flying—too low, too close to people—had to get out of here, had to find _something_ that would help—

_"Super jump!"_

Tadashi barely had time to register the blue thing leaping up, dove to avoid it, twisted around to see just what it was—whatever it was, it was shooting fire at the drones—face forward, wings already moving for a power stroke, more than willing to take that save—

Had to roll out of the way as a yellow discus arced towards him, power up as something yellow zipped under him—look to see it coming back around, catching the yellow disk and getting ready to throw another one—out of here, out of here—straight up—flap, flap harder—

Flared his wings, snapping him to a sudden stop in order to avoid running into the thing in the air angling for him—big, red, robotic, coming right for him—

This was going to end very, very badly.


	26. Big Hero Six

**Chapter 26, everybody! AND Y'ALL REMEMBER THE REST OF THE CAST OF BIG HERO SIX, RIGHT!?**

**Also, Baymax's line about healthy sleep times? This isn't the first time he's said that in one of my fics, and _invariably_ it comes up when I'm writing late at night. It's like he's trying to _speak_ to me (and scold my sleeping habits). :O**

**So disclaimer time: about ninety percent of the next _several_ chapters was written before I had even seen "Countdown to Catastrophe," let alone Season Two. Most of it was extrapolated from the teaser on "Obake Yashiki" and what I pieced together from Tumblr. Saying that…"Countdown to Catastrophe" broke my heart and _I miss Obake, okay!?_ *sob***

**And bird-nerd time: since bird bodies are centered around their ability to fly, the muscles relating to their wings are the largest and strongest they have—you know how chicken and turkey breasts are so big? Yeah those are flight muscles. Grounded birds like ostriches and emus have huge thigh and leg muscles since that's their form of locomotion, and birds like chickens have a balance of the two.**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! YAS! *screams and flails with you* Those two (sometimes three) are fun to write together. :D And YES! I was very much squirming in my seat when I was writing that. Looking at what I've written, that's mostly accurate…if not happening _this_ week. ^^;**

**Hexyah, thanks for the review! Yes, Hiro, no! It's a bird, it's a plane, it's—_TADASHI!?_**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

And it had almost been a quiet evening too.

Not that it had been a quiet evening _mentally_—but it was nice to have a dream, and for Hiro Hamada, a quiet mind was definitely a luxury, despite the efforts of Honey Lemon and Wasabi in getting him into yoga and meditation (the latter of which saw Wasabi now staying out of arms' length for).

But even with his suspicions, with the weird things going on in San Fransokyo, things were relatively quiet tonight. Sure, he had suspicions he wanted to level against Liv Amara and her company Sycorax—but right now he had nothing. Nada. Nothing that connected to her or her company.

So for now, skimming high in the sky above San Fransokyo on Baymax, above the turbines but not the taller skyscrapers, Hiro was able to somewhat let his mind drift.

And as it did so, so did his attention, until he found himself once again looking out to the bay.

_Being kidnapped by his reprogrammed best friend, taken to an underwater base glowing green with numerous screens, facing down a man that had been the bane of his existence for months—_

_Managing to escape, to defeat him, to narrowly avoid the destruction of the city—_

_Knowing that the man had let him go, basically—_

_"Hiro?"_

"Uh—yeah, I'm still here," Hiro said, touching a hand to his comm. "Kinda drifted for a moment."

_"Oh good, so it's not just me," _Wasabi said.

_"Eight to ten hours of sleep is beneficial for most young adults,"_ Baymax pointed out, lifting a finger.

_"Aw, come on guys! Five more minutes?"_ Fred begged.

_"Fred, forget it, nothing's happening tonight,"_ Gogo said. _"It's been quiet for over a week now."_

_"And NOBODY finds that MEGA-suspicious!?"_

_"Hiro, do you need to call it a night?"_ Honey Lemon asked.

Hiro glanced back at the bay—he had been getting better as of late, wasn't having nightmares as frequently—he could _probably_ get a full night's sleep tonight.

But just in case.

"Let's give Fred his five minutes," he said, adjusting his position on Baymax's back. "If nothing happens by then, we'll call it a night."

_"I will set a timer,"_ Baymax volunteered.

_"All right,"_ Fred said. _"Game-face time!"_

_"And you were doing what before?"_ Gogo asked.

_"Hiro,"_ Honey Lemon asked. "_You're sure you're all right?"_

"Yeah, I'm fine," Hiro said, sitting back on his knees and crossing his arms—Baymax was angling around for one more lazy circuit of the city. "Just winding down for the night."

She seemed to accept that, which was good, Hiro thought—of the lot of them, Honey Lemon seemed to be the first to sense when something was up, followed by Fred. It was annoying, really, he thought as the warehouse district came into view—he _was_ fine, it wasn't like the SFIT fire, things were back to normal after that bad scare—

_Except he wasn't certain that Obake was dead—that he wouldn't try again, try something awful, something underhanded, something—_

A shriek ripped through the night, nearly startling him off of Baymax.

Baymax, fortunately, did not flinch, being a robot that therefore did not feel fear, but he did quickly adjust to make sure Hiro stayed on. As it were, Hiro was hanging on tight, reminding himself to breathe before pushing himself up.

"Baymax?" he asked. "Where did that come from—"

_"The noise of alarm came from the warehouse district,"_ Baymax said, pointing at what Hiro had just spotted—flashing lights, like those from laser cannons, dark things darting everywhere, looking like they were chasing specific shapes.

Hiro hit his comm. "Guys! There's something going on in the warehouse district! We're going to fly over, see if we can't get details!"

_"WOO-HOO!"_ Fred cheered. _"See, I TOLD you guys something was going to happen tonight!"_

_"FRED!"_ Gogo barked, sounding a thousand percent done.

Baymax shot high overhead, high enough that whatever was fighting down there didn't notice—Hiro craned his neck, leaned, tried to make sense of the tangled mess of action beneath them—

Saw two shapes break away, pursued by the darker shapes of drones and security guys in jetpacks, angling for the inner city.

"Guys!" he called. "A bunch of them are heading downtown!"

_"On 'em!"_ the other four chimed.

"Great! Baymax, angle around, we're going to cut them off!" Look over his shoulder—the rest seemed to be dispersing, scattering after something else—still over the warehouse district, it'd be the ones downtown who'd cause the most destruction. "Don't let them get away!"

Baymax powered forward, shot a rocket fist at several drones, punched one away from a building it was angling too close to—Gogo was shooting more down with her discus, Honey Lemon and Wasabi splintering after several that split down a side street—

_"Super jump!"_ Fred yelled—_"WOAH DUDE!"_

"What? What was that?" Hiro yelped, shocked out of using his magnets to deflect another drone. "Fred, are you okay?"

_"I nearly had a head-on collision with a bird-guy THAT WAS SO AWESOME YOU GUYS!"_

That was…odd. "Baymax, let's get ahead of these guys," Hiro said, hunkering down—Baymax put on another burst of speed, angled along a side road that would hopefully cut in front—

_"I see it!"_ Gogo yelled. _"It's going straight up—I can't get it from here!"_

"We got it!" Hiro said. "Baymax, up! Don't let it get away!"

Baymax shot up, over the buildings, angled back down—

Hiro had a perfect view of a guy in some sort of winged flying rig, huge flapping mottled wings that looked like gold just found in dirt, or hot coals in ash—the guy was looking over his shoulder, probably busy trying to keep Gogo in sight—

And then the guy flying spotted them—

And Hiro was much too busy trying to process bird wings the size of Manhattan.

First instinct when those wings flared was to flinch back, eyes closed—felt, heard the tips snap together, so close he swore he felt the feathers stinging him—

When he was blinking and processing again, it was to find the wing-guy flying hard in the other direction, a tail with feathers angling every which way as he fled towards the warehouse district.

"After him, Baymax!" Hiro ordered, pointing. "Guys, one of them broke away—we're going after him!"

Baymax shot after the bird-guy, Hiro one-hundred-percent focused on him, watching how the wings and tail worked, trying to figure out how that rig was put together and how to slow it down—pretty impressive, if he had to say so. If he didn't know any better, he'd say those were—

Real….

"Baymax?" Hiro called, feeling his voice inching up. "Uh—those wings aren't—are those part of a flight rig?"

_"The: wings, are organic,"_ Baymax declared.

Oh boy.

"Baymax, don't let him get away," Hiro ordered, flattening himself against Baymax's back to cut down on drag—organic wings could only come from one source right now: Sycorax. If they caught this guy, they finally had something to use against Liv Amara.

Baymax didn't comment, but he did put on a burst of speed—the guy glanced over his shoulder again, wobbled in flight—dodged down a side street—Baymax angled up and over, curving pattern keeping the fleeing bird-person mostly in sight—

_"Oh no."_

Hiro barely had time to look forward at Baymax's statement before the robotic member of Big Hero Six had to start evasive maneuvers—drones skittering at them; round, not the sleek tripod versions—

Hiro put more vitriol into the repulsion attack than was strictly necessary—that memory coupled with frustration at potentially losing the bird-person—they weren't losing this guy, they were _not_—

Dispatch the last drone, cruise high overhead—

They lost the guy.

Hiro groaned in frustration, thumping his fist against Baymax's armor—think, _think_—

"Baymax, do you think you can find him?" he asked, still trying to see everywhere at once.

_"Scanning now,"_ Baymax declared—

There!

_"There!"_ Hiro exclaimed, pointing—there, near the bay—a flash of orange and gold—it was impossible to hide a wingspan _that_ big from this high up—

Baymax dove.

_Away_ from the bird-guy.

_"BAYMAX!"_ Hiro exclaimed—tried to gesture, had to hang on quick to keep from flying off—"Baymax! The guy's heading the _other_ way! BAYMAX!"

Baymax didn't answer—Hiro had a sudden terror-soaked moment—not again, _not again—_

Baymax curved, slowed, angled over a warehouse with a broken skylight, descended—

He should have jumped free, if this was what he thought it was—but he couldn't, couldn't leave Baymax to _that guy_—carefully pushed himself up, reaching over Baymax's shoulder, reaching for his chip bay—

Baymax touched down.

_"There is someone in distress,"_ Baymax announced, looking at Hiro. _"I have narrowed down the source to this warehouse."_

Hiro twitched, coughed—reached the rest of the way to check his chip bay.

Still the two chips that were supposed to be there, instead of the one purple one that had been such a shock. And he knew that _those_ chips were safe, he had checked, he had checked ten times over—

_You could have missed something—you know you could have—_

"A little warning would have been nice!" Hiro demanded, gesturing. "And we had that guy, Baymax! We _had_ him!"

_"I am a healthcare companion,"_ Baymax said. _"That is my primary function. The level of distress from this individual prioritizes them."_

Hiro wanted to argue—wanted to rail—was it worth that guy getting away? They had to—

_Someone has to help_.

That was what Tadashi said—that had been his reasoning in programming Baymax. Tadashi had wanted to _help_ people.

Which meant prioritizing whoever it was that was in distress.

"Okay," Hiro sighed, sagging. "Sorry bud, it's just—nevermind. Let's just deal with what's in front of us."

Baymax nodded, scanned the warehouse—started moving forward. Hiro clung to his back, adjusting his visor to make the most of the low-lighting situation—

Baymax stopped, waved. _"Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion."_

Hiro leaned forward, craning his neck as Baymax went into his healthcare spiel—even with his visor adjusted, the shape was dark and irregular—it took until _I will scan you now_ for him to pick out the eyes shining wide in the darkness.

_"Scan complete,"_ Baymax announced, before holding a finger up. _"While my databases do not match up with your body type, my scan indicates that you have a: broken bone, in your wing."_

Wing?

The shape suddenly made sense in the dark—the odd edges, the dark coloration—

They might have lost the orange one, sure—but they found another one of these bird-people, at least.

Which bore asking the question: _how many were there?_

Later—slip off of Baymax, gingerly approach, hands up, not above his shoulders—universal signal of surrender, but it also doubled as a means to hit it with a repulsor if it decided to attack.

_"The: bone, will have to be set,"_ Baymax said, mincing a bit closer. _"A local anesthetic will also help with the pain."_

The bird-person didn't react, pressed further against the wall away from them—curled up when Hiro got a little closer, whimpering, one wing dragging oddly.

Hiro hesitated…got down on his hands and knees before mincing closer, trying for unassuming. "Hey—hey, it's okay. My name's Hiro, and this is Baymax—we're here to help."

Wide eyes peeked over the wing's edge.

"Yeah, see? Not dangerous at all," Hiro assured them—he was starting to get assured himself that they wouldn't attack. "What's your name?"

The bird-person was trembling, scared—or maybe going into shock.

_"Hiro,"_ Baymax said. _"In order to treat the injury, I will need my hands free."_

"Right, sorry," Hiro said, running back to him and pulling the gauntlets off.

_"Also, I will be needing bandages. There is a first-aid kit: there."_

"Right—on it—don't go anywhere, okay?" he shot at the bird-person, dashing for the post indicated. Yank the first-aid kit off, nearly slip and fall in his haste to reverse course, skid to a halt next to Baymax and open the kit for him.

_"Thank you,"_ Baymax said, blinking at the kit. _"I have applied the local anesthetic, but the patient will still need to be restrained while I reset the bone and bandage it."_

Which meant him. Holding the bird-person in place. Right. This would be easy. Maybe.

"Right," he said, mincing around, painfully aware of the eyes on them. "So I'm just going to…be here…for emotional support…so…."

Closer he could see the wings made up the bulk of the shape—the actual person they attached to couldn't have been much bigger than him. A kid—a stupid kid—did he volunteer for this? Or….

_Or_ made him pause—no. No, they looked in-control, like High Voltage had been, at least at the beginning. This wasn't like Orso Knox, he was sure—

_"Hiro,"_ Baymax prompted.

"Right—sorry—listen, this is going to hurt _a little,_ okay?" he asked the bird-person, trying to mince closer—flinched back at it backing up, feathers standing on end, hissing. "Hey, don't be like that—Baymax, distract him a minute." Work his way behind Baymax, around—

Had to work to pin it in place, glad for the armor protecting his arm from what sounded like scraping claws—managed to get his one arm wrapped around the good wing, screwing his face up against the strength in that wing and the screams ripping out of the bird-person—winced when it reared back, jaws clamping down on one of the fins poking up from his helmet—

"Baymax," Hiro wheezed, straining. "Hurry up…."

Baymax worked—Hiro tried to stay focused on keeping the bird-person pinned, on keeping those claws off of him—some detached part of his mind registered _actual bird feet_ pushing against Baymax, claws scraping against the armor (_gonna have to buff that out_, he thought inanely)—momentary panic when it just _gave up,_ losing all tension, the keening noise it was forcing through its throat stopping—it wasn't dead, he could still hear ragged breathing—

_"I have finished setting the: bone,"_ Baymax announced. Blinked at him. _"You may let go now."_

Hiro heaved a sigh of relief, lowered the bird-person to the ground, ran to put the gauntlets back on Baymax—

Turned to look at the bird-person when he was done; it was lying there, breathing uneven, wide eyes staring at them. Hiro hesitated….

Went to kneel next to them again, lowering himself so he could talk.

"Hey," he said gently. Wasn't sure where to go from here. "Hey, it's okay—Baymax had to do that so your…wing…would heal." This was _so weird_. "Are you okay? Can you say something?"

There was something oddly familiar about the expression, right before it _did_ make a noise—a weak sort of squeak, like the kind a bird would make. Look the bird-person up and down, now that it had its wings folded in….

Bird-_kid_. Bird-kid, this guy couldn't have been older than Hiro, and that was pushing it. Young, injured, terrified—

They couldn't leave him like this.

Hiro put a hand on his shoulder—the bird-kid winced, watching him….

"I think you should come with us."

* * *

_"Nox, RUN! I'll find you, okay? I'LL FIND YOU!"_

Nox had needed no further impetus to flee shrieking—he knew it he knew this would happen knew something awful would happen the bay was bad-bad-bad and the _warehouse_ was bad-bad-bad it had smelled like the bad-place and then 'Dashi had found that awful no-good _poison—_

_It takes your wings._

No—no no no how could 'Dashi be excited about finding it finding _poison_ it was _bad_ why—

But that wasn't the worst part—the worst part was being chased by all these terrible dark things that shot burning light at him and singed his feathers when they got too close he had to fly he had to fly _AWAY_ but they were making him fly _away_ from 'Dashi 'Dashi would protect him 'Dashi was good and safe and in the _other direction_ but 'Dashi said he'd find him he just had to get away WHY why was this happening _sky_ was supposed to be _safe_ but _these things_ were flying too NO—

Sharp turn, like in forest when they were playing and branching—'Dashi and the olders always had them flying straight and lazy when they all flew together but he couldn't _be_ straight and lazy right now right now he had to be _evasive_ and _flee_ and _fast_ because it would be _bad_ if these things caught him they'd take him back to _her_—

_The bad-place smell kept wafting up out of the hole 'Dashi and 'Kase had disappeared down—enough to make him wilf tiny no—Grump was being all rumbly and irritable, told him to stop being stupid they'd be back—_

Nox had hated the cave that 'Dashi and 'Kase had dropped into, but he had gone in after them, because with 'Dashi he was _safe_.

That thought flitted through his panicked mind full of birds flailing and crashing into each other in terror—he had to get to 'Dashi.

Sharp turn again, away from the bay _bay_ was _bad_ there was something bad-bad-bad about it and his body screamed at him to get away from it get away from these _things_ get to 'Dashi get to safety _FLY FLY FLY!_ Scour the sky, fear screaming through him—'Dashi—'Dashi _please_—

One of the dark things bashed into him, throwing him off balance, sending him careening—

Dazed, winded—could hardly gather his thoughts instincts rattled—couldn't register whether to pull wings in or shove them out for balance—

And before his scrambled brain could make sense—

_CRASH!_

_CRUNCH._

_White-hot—blinding—_

_Pain-snap-bend-WRONG—_

He knew this—knew this from when Della had disappeared down the slope, when she had broken-leg—because with their language what you said was what you said he _knew_ that right now, this dazed floatiness, after the white-hot flash—

_Pain_ was coming.

And then it did—sizzling through him, making him suck in a hard breath after the wind had been knocked out of him—the ground had rushed up much too fast, he had fallen through into one of the caves—_pain_—too hard, too hurting, making his fingers and toes curl up making his limbs curl up as he screamed and shrieked—wings pulling in—worse, much worse—

Because his one wing was moving in the exact _wrong_ way.

Realization stabbed him hard in the chest.

_He had broken his wing._

No—nonononono_NO NO NOT THAT—_

His screams intensified—he didn't care that the things might hear right now he wanted _'Dashi_ 'Dashi would hear 'Dashi would fix this _PLEASE 'Dashi fix this—_

But 'Dashi didn't come—and his hiccupping howls started to die when he realized no one else was echoing them back to him—not like how they had echoed Della's shrieks because what you said was what you said and her shrieking had meant her pain was their pain—

It was just him—he was _only_.

He wilfed tight at that, wheezing into silence, scanning the cave with frightened wide eyes—_only_ was dangerous, bad things happened when you were _only_—

_She_ could get you when you were _only_.

Quiet wheezing whimpers as he tried to pull tight to himself, _broken_-wing refusing to cooperate—no no no not his wing he needed his wings to fly and he needed flying like he needed breathing needed 'Dashi—

Scrape and scramble until he had good-wing pressed against the cave-wall—he needed to be able to watch his surroundings he was _only_ he had only his own eyes and ears right now—_pain_ was too much, _pain_ was eating him from the inside out making it so he couldn't suck in a proper breath or keep a thought in his head he wanted 'Dashi 'Dashi _please_ 'Dashi where was 'Dashi?

He tried crying for 'Dashi again—_pain_ was constricting his chest, squeezing it tight—no—no he needed to call 'Dashi what if he didn't know to look in the caves for him 'Dashi had told him to go to the little island at the mouth of the river and if Nox wasn't _there_—

_I'll find you, okay? I'LL FIND YOU!_

Shivering—try to curl up, try to cling to that hope—'Dashi would find him, 'Dashi would make this right, 'Dashi was good and safe and older-brother and Nox wished he was here right _now_—

Because if 'Dashi wasn't here, then Nox might as well be at the bad-place.

He curled up at that, hiccupping and sobbing—not there, not the bad-place—'Dashi _please PLEASE where was 'Dashi he needed him please come find him_—

He was startled out of his imaginings of 'Dashi coming—of finding him and putting a paw on his shoulder like he had when he rescued Nox from the bad-place—startled by a whooshing whining noise coming from high out of cave high in _sky_—

_Broken-wing._

The pain of broken-wing the pain of not-flying the fear of being 'Dashi-less the fear of whatever new thing this was made him wheeze out a whimper, press tighter against cave-wall, hiss weakly in defiance of whatever new thing this was—

Something red and _huge_ came down through the cave entrance, slow enough that it barely bent knee on landing. _Wings_ folded in, it had ears poking up like they did—but it wasn't like them, it didn't have feathers he didn't know what this was 'Dashi _help_—

Stay still stay quiet stay safe—the part deep inside that told him how to fly told him this, that if he stayed still stayed quiet he'd stay safe—his wings were dark-dark-dark in no-light, pulled up close he'd blend in, still and _shh_ keeping him safe—

Trying to pull in _broken_-wing resulted in a pained hiss before he could stop it.

The red thing looked right at him—looked at a smaller blue thing with ears like Nox's as it climbed over its shoulder, scolding and gesturing—Nox watched, twitching at _pain_ still dancing up and down him, trying to make sense of what he was seeing but not able to string two thoughts together _pain_ kept stopping him—

They were coming closer now—try to lock his muscles _stay still stay quiet stay safe—_

The big red one stopped, waved a paw at him. _"Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion."_

Maybe it wasn't talking to Nox, despite looking right at him and being only a few feet away—maybe talking was good, talking meant no eating—except Louie had said that _cougar_ had said things—

New pain—he missed Louie he missed the others he missed 'Dashi he didn't want to be _only_ he'd take Grump at this point—

The smaller blue one had slipped off, come around—hiss, try to back up staying still and _shh_ wasn't working—crumple when movement pulled on _broken_-wing.

"Hey," the blue thing said. "Hey, it's okay—I'm Hiro, and this is Baymax. We're here to help."

It was talking like 'Dashi would talk it was talking so much like him it hurt—he wanted 'Dashi. 'Dashi would fix this 'Dashi was good….

It was talking with the red thing now, tugging its hands off to reveal smaller white hands, running away coming back with tin that rattled interestingly like the little tin 'Dashi had had—Nox was drifting, he could feel it—he had to stay here, had to stay focused this was _danger_ he couldn't give up not now—

And then the blue thing grabbed him from the back—

_NO._

Nonononono_NO_ this was what happened at the bad-place they were taking him _BACK_ to the bad-place NO _no_ he wasn't going back NO he'd fight first NO _not there not there NOT. THERE—_

Flailing for all he was worth, one wing dangling useless and broken—other one was pinned—claw, thrash tail, push with legs—managed to get enough leverage to swing his head around and bite down hard on ear, trying to clench down hard and rip—it wasn't working though—the ear looked like his but it was hard and his teeth scraped uselessly on it—the big red one was closer now—tried shoving away with his feet push it away from him—that wasn't working either, claws were scraping uselessly there claws scraping uselessly on the blue one they didn't have feathers they had skin that was like rock that stopped claws and didn't even have good _scratch_—

It was like when Della had stopped struggling and scared 'Dashi so bad—go limp, limp from giving up—he couldn't—he couldn't fight anymore, claws curling in—couldn't struggle, couldn't break free couldn't flee from _pain_, all his strength had left him and his only hope was that 'Dashi would come save him soon.

And then they left him alone—he was back on the floor, laying there, world blurring and spinning, numbness eating through him eating through his wing and crawling up his spine he wanted to go to sleep wanted it to end wanted 'Dashi—

Paw to his shoulder.

Blink—blink again, try to focus—the smaller thing had its paw on his shoulder, was peering at his face—

"I think you should come with us," it told him, tone like 'Dashi.

All he had energy for, all he had sense for was a weak squeak—_words_ failed him, _words_ had failed him the moment he had to flee. _Words_ were difficult, took effort—their language took no effort, just came out….

The big red thing was carefully scooping him up, cradling him against chest—he tried to cling, but everything was so heavy and not wanting to work—want to twitch, to move, but too hard…tail hanging limply…sleep…no, no sleep, still danger—

The smaller one had crawled back onto the bigger one's back, was saying _let's get out of here Baymax—_

Familiar feeling, good feeling, the feeling of the ground dropping away—_sky_ was _safe_….

The big red thing had good grip on him, wasn't letting him slip or fall—head lolled uselessly, trying to see around see everything…couldn't see, everything blurry….

_'Dashi._ Try to squeak for him, try to call, but the only thing that came out was a weak _aark_.

"It's okay little guy, okay?" the smaller one called down.

_Okay…okay…._Couldn't respond…heard the smaller one chattering, vaguely heard others, everything sounding like when they had played in _river_ and Dewey had shoved him underwater…had to hang on…couldn't…had to….

Water—scented water—'Dashi—the bay—

_Panic—death—near-death—_

Tried to struggle, to cry out, but the all-encompassing numbness had taken him, lethargy had taken him, could barely move could barely make noise sleep was becoming a better and better option—

_"There, there,"_ the big red thing that had him said. _"It will be all right."_

No…maybe…it sounded like 'Dashi too….'Dashi….

Smaller one was talking, calling the one that had him something…Baymax…Baymax and…Hiro. It had called itself _Hiro_. Hiro-Hiro-Hiro—why did that sound familiar? Hiro…_Hiro…._

_I ever tell you you remind me of my little brother Hiro?_

One final weak squeak, calling for 'Dashi and hoping he'd come….

And then darkness.


	27. Broken Down

**Chapter 27, everybody! Now to see what various characters are up to….Fun bit of trivia knowledge: Grump's section was written _first_. Kind of a backwards-written chapter there. ^^**

**Also, Baymax's line about healthy sleep times? This isn't the first time he's said that in one of my fics, and **_**invariably **_**it comes up when I'm writing late at night. It's like he's trying to **_**speak **_**to me (and scold my sleeping habits). :O Nox's section was also written late at night when I ****_was_**** trying to fall asleep too, so I had a good frame of reference for him, oddly enough.**

**So disclaimer time: about ninety percent of the next **_**several **_**chapters was written before I had even seen "Countdown to Catastrophe," let alone Season Two. Most of it was extrapolated from the teaser on "Obake Yashiki" and what I pieced together from Tumblr. Saying that…"Countdown to Catastrophe" broke my heart and **_**I miss Obake, okay!?**_***sob***

**"****I have to do something even if it's wrong" is something my parents say, so I'm guessing it's an older saying. And I'm not ****_entirely_**** sure what the Fredrickson's patio is made of, but I'm going with wood here. As for Grump's leg…I've had chickens get tangled up in wire or thread and if you don't catch it and remove it immediately their leg does indeed swell up around it, which makes removing it worse. And in retrospect, probably shouldn't have named Nox "Nox" when there's the identical-sounding Professor Knox but…oh well that was his name I can't fight it Nox wanted it and Tadashi did too so I'm not arguing.**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Fill out a form, we're making a mob to go after those dudes. ****_Eeeee thank you!_**** :D Baymax is Baemax and we can't argue with that—I don't know either maybe when I get a few of the other fics I'm working on done we'll bump up posting but until then—*flails with you***

**Hexyah, thanks for the review! I feel like Baymax would bring up circadian rhythms at this point….Yes, Nox, don't worry, you're with the good guys and if Fred has anything to do with it you're going to be minimum honorary team member. Ah, thank you, I'm glad you liked it! *blushes***

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

Fred had suggested they regroup at his place, said he'd call ahead for pizza rolls.

Hiro was just trying to figure out how to explain this mess.

Okay, major thing: the bird-kid could _not_ come to the Lucky Cat Café even if it did speak English or not there was just too big a chance Aunt Cass would run into it and he'd rather not take that chance because he had absolutely _no_ idea how to explain this to her.

Hence why he was explaining to the others, after they had reported what they had seen and done, that he and Baymax were bringing something and that they'd explain more when they got there.

_"Ooh—is it some super-special secret awesome doohickey?"_ Fred asked.

_Special_ was probably an adjective that worked. "Well…we'll explain when we get there."

That satisfied everyone, they agreed to break down the evening further when they got to Fred's, and Hiro was left trying to figure out how he was going to explain some bird-kid to the rest of Big Hero Six.

"Ugh," he sighed, sagging when an answer wasn't forthcoming. "How am I supposed to explain this?"

_"Prioritize the: healthcare aspect,"_ Baymax suggested. _"It will take: four to six weeks, for a broken bone to heal. The patient will need to be cared for during that time."_

The patient that had tried to bite and claw him, Hiro reflected, looking at the scratches gouged into the paint on his armor—it hadn't looked this roughed up since that last fight with Callaghan—

_Murderer—the man who killed his brother, the man he thought would be the man he hated most before that other awful excuse for a human being came along and dragged Tadashi's memory through the mud, until there was nothing left but a terror-soaked evening and a city that had nearly been destroyed because of his own idiocy—_

He shook his head, jostling himself out of those thoughts—he couldn't think like that, couldn't afford to dwell on those memories when they had a city that needed their protection, even if the new chief of police didn't think so.

(It wasn't like the police force had been doing so hot against the supervillains anyway, and Big Hero Six had had friendly relations with the police before—like that time Fred and Wasabi had ended up taking selfies with the police squad after stopping that one guy who had gotten a laser cannon somehow. Hiro wondered how the new chief of police handled _that_ on his beat's phones).

Hiro shook his head again—he was getting distracted, he couldn't afford to get distracted, he had to focus and ignore the little fact that he was drifting and starting to sag—jerk himself awake—adrenaline was wearing off—come on, focus—

_"Hiro,"_ Baymax declared. _"You are tired. Shall we head home for the night?"_

"What? No," Hiro said, shaking himself awake again. "Fred's first, remember?" Lean a bit, trying to see. "How's the little guy doing?"

_"The: little guy, is asleep,"_ Baymax reported. _"This is good, as sleep speeds the healing process."_

"Good."

_"You too should get some sleep."_

"In a bit, Baymax, okay? Fred's first."

_"I will set a reminder,"_ Baymax said, arcing around before coming in for a gentle landing on Fred's patio. Hiro slipped off, came around to peer at the bird-kid. Asleep, as Baymax had said, head and tail limp but arms and legs curled up against its body. Carefully move some of the hair out of the way, trying to see the feathers growing out of the head where the ears should be…something about the face was familiar.

Maddeningly familiar.

Any attempt to pick his brain as to _why_ was put on hold when the rest of Big Hero Six rolled in—Fred was already flipping his mask back, grinning madly and dancing in place.

"_Bird-people,_ Hiro!" Fred exclaimed. "At least two, I nearly jumped smack into one and Wasabi and Honey Lemon can tell you about the other—"

"I don't want to," Wasabi said, gingerly running his fingers over his shoulder pads—where long scratch marks were evident. "I just had an experience I do _NOT_ want to relive, okay?"

"The blue one grabbed Wasabi," Honey Lemon explained, wincing as she tugged some blue goo off Wasabi's back. "It's okay, though, I caught him."

"It is NOT okay I was _WAY TOO HIGH off the ground DO YOU PEOPLE SEE MY PROBLEM WITH THIS!?"_

"A little too busy with the gold one to notice," Gogo said.

"So I'm saying it was a tag-team affair," Fred said, pointing his claws at them, still too keyed-up to climb out of his costume. "Ooh—I bet you they call themselves Birds of a Feather."

"Fred, we talked about the lame names."

"And yet _Globby_ is universally accepted and _Obakase_ is the official ship name on the fanfiction boards."

_"FRED."_

"Ahem," Hiro noised, redirecting their attention. "So…it was more like _three_ bird-people."

Fred gasped with glee and Wasabi looked like he was going to find an underground bunker to retreat to until this all blew over.

"I didn't see a third one, did you?" Gogo asked Honey Lemon; when the other girl shook her head, Gogo looked at Hiro. "This was after you chased after the gold one."

"Yes," Hiro said, backing up to Baymax and waving for them to follow. "And—okay, so the gold one got away—"

"The blue one did too," Honey Lemon said.

"Look," Wasabi said, hands up. "I'm just telling you all, _I have my limits—"_

"Anyway," Hiro said, stepping to the side and indicating Baymax. "Baymax?"

Baymax obliged, lowered his arms enough for them to see—

Everyone had to take a moment—a few took sharp intakes of breath, Fred and Honey Lemon with hands to their mouths—well, Honey Lemon had her fingers to her mouth. Fred had claw tips, since he still hadn't crawled out of his costume yet.

Fred reacted first, pointing a claw. "Bird-kid."

"Uh, yes," Hiro said.

Fred was dancing in place. "So it was TOTALLY a supervillain family because the gold guy was DEFINITELY older—"

"The blue one was too," Honey Lemon said, coming closer to look. "Is he okay?"

"Is he contagious?" Wasabi asked, gingerly tugging Honey Lemon back.

Baymax blinked, looked at them. _"The: bird-kid, has a broken bone in his: wing. I have detected: zero communicable diseases on his person. Despite showing signs of living outdoors, the: bird-kid, has no virulent tendencies."_

The faces everyone sans Fred was making said that they noticed that Baymax hadn't mentioned behavior. And then their attention slid to Hiro, whose arm and chest armor—and possibly his helmet—was covered in scratch marks.

"Okay," Hiro said, hands up before tugging his helmet off—yup, covered in scratch marks, and the one ear looked like it had been chewed on. "So, no guarantees on his behavior, but…come on, we couldn't just _leave_ him there."

"Of course not! This could be the start of a beautiful villain-to-hero story," Fred mused.

Gogo held up a hand, like she could stave off a threatening migraine that way. "Fred, _not now. _ Hiro—"

"So my next question is, is the bird-kid safe to be around?" Wasabi asked, finger up. "Because I'm not going for another flight again, okay? I'm just _not_."

"I…uh…Baymax?" Hiro noised. "Little help here?"

Baymax had waddled over to a couch to deposit the bird-kid, straightened up and turned to them. _"I cannot accurately assess behavior while the patient is asleep."_

"He could be nice," Honey Lemon tried.

"He could be, the big birds couldn't," Gogo countered, arms crossed. "Parent birds will divebomb threats to their nest—the bigger ones have taken people's _eyes_ out doing that. I don't want to find out what two human-sized ones can do."

"Hey, human-bird hybrids, maybe we can talk to them," Fred suggested. "Tell them the power of the light side—they might be willing to help out once they see how we helped the little dude."

"I don't like what that expression implied," Wasabi said to Hiro, alerting him to the fact that he hadn't hidden it fast enough.

Hiro coughed, tried to explain. "Well, see, broken bone and everything, he uh…wasn't exactly…."

"Completely feral?" Gogo guessed.

"I wouldn't say _completely_ feral…."

"Like Professor Knox?" Honey Lemon asked.

Everyone had to take a moment at those implications—Professor Orso Knox had been a regular human turned into a monster. If this kid was the same way…best-case scenario…he didn't know. Best-case scenario had the other two bird-people be his parents, in which case Gogo was right, they were in trouble.

Worst-case scenario had the bird-kid's parents worried out of their minds for a child whose ultimate fate they didn't know.

Hiro shook his head, waving that concern off for now. "Listen—one crisis at a time. I…really can't take him home with _me_ because Aunt Cass would wig out and I'm not ready to have that conversation—"

"Hard no," Wasabi said. "I just want to get that out there _right now."_

"I don't know," Honey Lemon said, looking at Gogo—who looked at Fred.

Fred was tapping his face, pensive. "I don't know—I _think_ we might have an emergency contingency for like…people targeted by supervillains…and like _technically_ he'd be targeted by a supervillain…I don't know, let me check with Heathcliff real quick."

"So let me get this straight," Gogo said, as Fred dashed into the house. "The plan is to keep the bird-kid here until…what, exactly? What's the plan?"

Hiro scrubbed at his face—he didn't really _have_ a plan right now, he just didn't…the idea of leaving the bird-kid behind after it had been shrieking and crying and had a broken wing was just…it was an awful thought. Bringing it here had been a knee-jerk reaction, and he didn't really have a plan beyond that.

_"Hiro,"_ Baymax said. _"It is late and you are in need of sleep."_

_"I know,_ Baymax," Hiro groused, waving a hand irritably. "We'll see what Fred says for tonight and then we'll figure things out in the morning."

That seemed to satisfy everyone—Gogo and Honey Lemon sank into nearby chairs; Wasabi stood nearby with hands tucked under his arms, constantly glancing at the bird-kid but mostly scanning the skies in case of another divebomb (which had sounded scary even before factoring in Wasabi's fear of heights). Baymax stood nearby, and Hiro….

Hiro really couldn't keep from constantly glancing at the bird-kid, laying on the nearby couch and looking like it was out cold. He couldn't see the face from this angle, couldn't exactly look now but….

Something about him was familiar.

He sighed, sat down crosslegged—he was tired, that was it, he'd go home, get some sleep, approach this problem fresh. He'd figure something out tomorrow, he was sure.

"Okay, good news my dudes!" Fred announced, coming back out with hands up—er, paws, he was still in costume. "Turns out we _do_ have an emergency contingency for dudes targeted by supervillains, Heathcliff's getting the room set up so we'll be able to get the little dude in there—"

Everyone blinked at the way he stopped dead then, realized that he was looking beyond them—Hiro followed his line of sight—

The bird-kid had woken up, was staring at all of them, frozen, back arched, hands and feet digging into the couch, eyes wide-open in fear.

"Uh," Hiro started—

The bird-kid bolted, shrieking, into the dark backyard.

"Okay," Hiro decided. "That was…I don't know."

"He can't get out of here, can he?" Honey Lemon asked, looking at Fred.

"He shouldn't be able to," Fred said, thinking. "I mean, we've got some pretty big walls and doors so…."

_"The: bird-kid, is still in the backyard,"_ Baymax said, before pointing. _"Over there."_

"Thanks, Baymax," Hiro said, peering into the darkness. He didn't _think_ the bird-kid could fly away with a broken wing, but…."Think you'd be okay sticking around and keeping an eye on him?"

_"The patient will need constant care,"_ Baymax said. _"I will stay and monitor him."_

"Great, thanks." Oh wait Baymax was his ride—

"Great!" Fred cheered. "We'll get everything set up and give you guys a lift home—and then tomorrow we start the epic journey from villainous bird-person to epic heroic sidekick slash team mascot!"

"Okay, just a heads-up, I'm knocking Fred out," Gogo said. "And if anyone wants a reason I'm citing exhaustion."

"Dude."

* * *

Nox sped through the blackness keening no no no where was 'Dashi he needed 'Dashi _'Dashi—_

_I'll find you, okay? I'LL FIND YOU!_

Where was he the last he remembered he was in a cave and the red thing was carrying him away what was this was this _nest_ but it had others in it all no-feathers and he didn't know what to do 'Dashi had always been leery of no-feathers was afraid so that meant Nox needed to be afraid—

_She_ was a no-feather.

Wilf down to nothing, skidding under a bush and flattening himself against the ground, chest heaving, sharp tight breaths slipping in and out—he wanted 'Dashi, but 'Dashi wasn't here he was _only_ that meant _she_ could get him—

_Everyone was afraid of _her_, but he had the most reason—she'd poke and prod and do horrible things to him that made him scream in pain, kept trying to get him to do things that he didn't comprehend, would feign _disappointment_ when he couldn't—something that made him want to do better because _she_ had been _first_ had been _first-impression_ should have been _mother_—_

Hiss—_she_ was not, _mother_ was what Beth and Sue were, doting and hovering and _authority_ and wanting them to be safe-safe-safe…he wanted to be back with them. They would know what to do.

He wanted 'Dashi. 'Dashi was best, 'Dashi was good and safe and older-brother and safe, had been the one to grab him and haul him out of the bad-place when the doors opened, when Nox had no more energy for whatever new horrible trick _she_ was readying…if 'Dashi hadn't grabbed him, he would have died, given up like so many others he had heard ages and ages and ages ago in the bad-place.

No—no no no stop thinking about there that was only a place from nightmares now there was no need to remember the bad-place think of 'Dashi 'Dashi was coming to find you—

_"And I say 'run,' you go where?"_

_"Run. Hiir."_

He was supposed to be at that little island at the mouth of the river, if he wasn't there then 'Dashi would come find him…but he was so sluggish and tired, sadness and aching slogging through him like it was what pumped through instead of the red that welled out when the play-fight got too rough and claws scratched…_bleeding,_ 'Dashi called it.

He wanted 'Dashi.

Struggle upright, brace himself—find north. North was once again where he could find it. Strain hearing…no one seemed to be after him. That was good. Pad off, tell himself he could rest when he was back with 'Dashi when he was safe-safe-safe….

Ran into a cliff after a while.

Blink blearily, hiss weakly…turn away from cliffs and follow until….

Another cliff.

No. No, this wasn't right…look up, sight still fuzzy and bleary…no stars, no stars like when they were near the glowing-lights and 'Dashi got leery because _peoples_—

It looked like cliffs every which way.

Hiss…did he fall into a hole like Della had…it wasn't that long ago, _beach_ was nicer than this he missed it missed them—

Glowing-lights, not too far from him, close enough for him to see their square shapes.

He shifted on his paws, hesitant—the last time he had strayed too close to a nest with glowing-lights there had been _fear_ and no-feather and _BANG!_ and he wasn't sure if going near that one was a good idea…shuffle, looking around, trying to find a good place to curl up and sleep where he was hidden and good….

Ears pricked when he heard something.

"Little dude! Hey, little dude! Baymax, he still here?"

"_The: bird-kid, is still here."_

"Great—so, little dude, if you're listening, I've got some blankets and food right here—I mean it's nicer inside, but if that's like, too much too fast…well this stuff is here. Knock on the door if you want a bedtime story, okay? Okay—good chat little dude!"

Nox blinked slowly, trying to will his sluggish brain to process that…what was _little dude_? _Bedtime story_ was good, Brittany told good ones….

_Food_.

Food yes he was hungry-hungry-hungry and he wanted 'Dashi he wanted the others but food might make him feel better…shake his head, unable to dislodge the fuzzy feelings…start sneaking towards where the glowing-lights were, where the voices had come from.

Stop when his claws tapped _rock_—look down, look back and forth—it looked like rocks in a trail, leading away—

_A trail of rock that had monsters roaring and screeching, nearly eating 'Dashi and Louie—_

Nox darted across, tail curled up tight against his haunches.

The glowing-lights were close—gingerly peek around a bush—

The big red thing was _right there_, looking down at him.

_"Hello,"_ it greeted, waving a paw in a circle and ignoring his flinch back. _"There is: food, right there."_ Point. Nox hesitated, gingerly made his way forward, circling around wide, pausing to tap claws curiously on what looked like smelled like sounded like _wood_ like _log_ but was not was too flat—drag himself up, flat but tense, ready to flee again from this big red thing….

He was back where he had woken up, the rest of the strange flock strange flight of no-feathers gone—maybe him bolting and screaming had scared them off, or maybe they were looking for him…glance up, trying to be even smaller, trembling—

_"There, there,"_ the big red thing said. _"It is all right."_

Hiss weakly at the big red thing he wanted 'Dashi where was 'Dashi where was—

Food.

Glance at the big red thing again, which was just—just standing there, not looking relaxed or looking angry or ready to pounce just _there_—dig his claws into the thought that he had to be alert, try to drag himself there even when his body was wanting to slip away again…stay, focus…food….

_Food_ won out, food was important and disappeared rapidly in his mouth, tearing into soft crispy outside into good-smelling-but-different inside, making him bolt it down faster…lick at where food had been when he was done, lick at paws and mouth…there was something like water but weirdly shaped…paw at it, claws tapping against solid…tug it close, sniff…water. Lick, slurp, try to stay awake….

Glance back at the big red thing, that hadn't moved except to keep watching him…not aggressive not threatening just there. Glance back at the glowing-light-square, might have seen movement flicker within…but tired, still too tired….

There was _blanket_ that looked soft and comforting—test with paw, pad at it…get onto soft-blanket-bed, tread around a little….

The last of his energy failed him—flop down, eyes closed…tried to hang on, at least for a little longer….

He was slipping away, couldn't even react when he heard a strange noise, when he heard soft paw treads, small clinks…blanket draped over him…more paw treads, noise…soft voice saying "first contact is a _success."_

He wanted to stay focused, stay here—he had to find 'Dashi, he…but tired, so tired…no—no he was _only_ if he fell asleep here _she_ would get him…try to struggle back awake….

His claws finally lost traction and he fell backwards into the deep oblivion of _sleep_.

* * *

Talons hit the sand first, the rest of Grump collapsing moments later.

Lay there for the longest time, taking deep breaths, in, out, in, out…ragged both ways, wings flopped to the side, one hand still curled around the box that Tadashi had shoved at him.

The box of gene cleansers.

Deep shuddering breath—let it out.

It was very tempting, really, even knowing that it would do him no good—he knew, the moment he saw the first familiar face go by—the one his memories said was _his_ face, that he had been fool enough to think was buried somewhere under the feathers—the Momakase clone had been fool enough to hang onto that hope, wouldn't listen to him—but he had been there as well, had been certain that _he_ was the true original article.

Even knowing better, it didn't make anything easier.

What an utter fool that woman had been, thinking to implant memories into a body that would not benefit from it—what good was working knowledge of every database on the western seaboard when he had no way to access it? What good were talons at typing? He was trapped in a body that did nothing for him, feeling huge and lumbering compared to what his memories said he knew—

And then coming back here.

Huff, not opening his eyes, the smell of the bay all too painfully familiar and making one set of memories blindingly brilliant—

_The water flooding in, him trying to escape, his life's work wasted, the only consolation being the boy free of this place before it went down—_

_We would have been brilliant together._

Huff again, blink blearily once or twice before letting his lids weigh closed again.

Those memories were overwhelming too, of the boy that had dominated his original's attention—the face of a kid he had never met. Not really.

And now him, with the misfortune of having to travel with the brother.

The _dead_ brother.

_That_ was pretty front and center in his fake recollections—his original had distracted and tried to turn the boy with the image of his dead brother—Tadashi Hamada, dead in the fire at SFIT.

He wasn't supposed to be in some lab somewhere.

A clone as well, was the immediate response, the reasoning Occam would prefer. But another facet adjusted itself, reasoned that if the other man who was supposed to have died in that fire, Callaghan, had survived, it stood to reason…no. Callaghan had survived because he had staged it. Tadashi Hamada, from what his original could gather, had been fool enough to run into a burning building to save someone who hadn't needed saving.

This poor fool calling himself Tadashi Hamada was in for a rude awakening.

His muscles were aching, pain radiating out from his back leg…he wanted to sleep, he wanted to be done…he didn't want to be smelling the bay and the sand, remembering the last clear memory that wasn't his, before his own memories kicked in—the last thoughts of a dying man, he was sure.

_Struggling through the sand, disbelieving…collapsing…dying out here wouldn't be so bad, after the fates he had just evaded—_

_And then huge clawed hands seizing his arms, hauling him upright—_

He jerked his head, blinked rapidly, eyes flicking everywhere—he was almost certain he had felt the claws just then—no….No it was just a bad memory.

Jaw sunk into the sand, eyes closing…they were all bad memories.

They should never have come here—_he_ should never have come here—he should have cut and run the first chance he got—why was he even here? Why had he bothered with these people for so long, especially when doing so did nothing for him?

'Kase's comment suddenly came front and center.

_I'd catch myself wondering what I was doing, knowing I'd never do something like this—but that wasn't true. My original would never do something like this, wouldn't be caught dead doing this—this here, this is me; this is something I'd do._

Not as the clone of someone else, but as a separate functioning living thing.

The reason why full cloning never worked, he mused, feeling the corners of his mouth twitch—there was simply one thing no amount of science could ever reproduce, the one thing that made a person an individual—physical appearance might be rendered down to the smallest mote, and memories could shape action, but the soul was what made the man. That singular part that came from no earthly source—that was what truly shaped a person.

But he would admit to one thing he shared with his original: a pure driving unwillingness to just lay down and die.

_I can't stay here,_ he thought, eyelids twitching. _I have to do something, even if it's wrong. I have to get up…._

Muscles and limbs trembled as he loosened his fingers, put paws to the sand, shoved his front half up, shaking his head a little before forcing his eyes open again. He was tired, so tired….

_You have memories of always being tired and in pain—suck it up. Grit your teeth until you can get some coffee and Excedrin._ It didn't matter that the memories weren't truly his—they served as a reminder that there was someone else who had gone through worse pain and still behaved in a functioning manner; if his original, sickly and torn up as he was, could run a whole city, then he could get himself together long enough to fly back to the camp.

And then what? 'Kase was the only one who could translate for him, and she was still lost in the city. Hand the box to someone and hope they had enough sense to read the directions?

_No. Don't worry about it, don't think that far ahead—just get up. Get up—_

Collapse to the sand again, muscles feeling like jelly—no, stop, think—there was something he was missing—maybe a tranq dart had scored a hit, was taking effect…he had to look, had to….

Pain was still radiating from his leg, not the powerful sharp break like Della had projected, but definitely there, definitely persistent—he forced himself up, glaring at the offending limb.

It looked like a cord, a bola maybe, wrapped around his leg, cutting into the thick bird-scale, blood oozing from the slices—bring his beak close, could feel electricity buzzing lightly, could scent a slow-acting drug that his mind translated as _poison_ on it. Try to lift his leg, heavy weights pulled it back down.

Huff at it, thinking—too deep for him to worry out himself—he'd need help. But too heavy to fly with, and the poisonous drug on it wouldn't do him any good if he got it in his mouth…think. _Think—_

Ah.

Gingerly move around, until he could reach the balls weighing his leg down—brace himself mentally, bite down hard, worry his beak back and forth, sawing and gnawing, pausing frequently to spit out the bitter taste that had his mind screaming _POISON-BAD-NO_—kept working, long after he felt the edges of his beak on that side wearing down, until finally—

Fling the first ball away, drag himself to the water to bury his beak in, rinse out his mouth several times in the nasty salt water (forcing himself to ignore the fake memories they brought to the fore)—return to the second ball, working to free himself from its weight.

The eastern sky was beginning to lighten by the time he flung the second ball away.

Rinse his mouth out thoroughly, bracing himself for the next bit—his leg felt much lighter, so that was a plus—gingerly move around, grit his teeth—shove his leg into the water.

As he expected, the electricity arced and bit into him worse, salt water stinging his wounds—keep his leg there, waiting for the wire to short out—wince as he scanned the far shore, watching San Fransokyo as the early morning shift came to life.

Early morning…the others should have been here by now.

_Why do you care?_ he thought to himself bitterly, pulling his leg out of the water to examine it—cool water would reduce the swelling starting to seal around the wire. _You don't want these people around you—they're just a reminder—a bitter reminder—you don't need them._

And they _were_ bitter reminders, all three of them—'Kase, the feathery clone of Momakase, sushi chef by day and cunning thief by night. Tadashi, who thought himself the real Tadashi Hamada, dead brother to Hiro Hamada, whom his original had obsessed over terribly.

And then Nox.

Nox, the aggravating little clone that had the good fortune to actually somewhat _look_ like the person he was a clone of, despite being so far down the clone chain that he barely had any residual memories belonging to the man. Nox, who had maybe some of the brains—he had shown that clearly when he worked the laptop Tadashi had stolen—but none of the person it belonged to. He was so—he was just _so_ taken with Tadashi, like he had done something _so special_, and was so sickeningly friendly—

Grump dearly regretted knowing what the kids said at any given time—the kids, who had no concept of anything beyond their little group, who constantly referred to them as _their flock their flight_—which was honestly the closest concept they had of family. Teasing and mocking him but at the same time insisting on sitting on him and grooming him, reinforcing in their mentality his belonging—Nox hissing and spitting whenever he tried to see just how much of his original was in there—

And then his reaction to the bay.

_The bay—the location of his original's biggest failure, when he had nearly destroyed the city—_

_Idle curiosity bloomed into a burning need as he angled that way—he needed to see it, needed to be sure—_

_He really did wonder what he expected to find, especially after all this time._

_But he had barely gotten three wingstrokes in when Nox dove in front of him, wings and arms spread, screeching NO!_

Out of my way,_ he snarled, glaring at the little reminder, the little louse of a clone, ignoring Tadashi's squawks—_

Tadashi didn't understand the kids' vocalizations. Tadashi hadn't heard the fear and dread and terror with which Nox viewed the bay. And in that moment, Grump knew—whatever slim memories had trickled down to Nox, the events leading up to the death of their original was still there.

Because he had to be dead—Grump had a hard time believing that _she_ would risk keeping him alive.

But now there was the question—what did he do now?

Pull his leg out of the water, considering…it was _very_ tempting to use a gene cleanser, to at least _try_ and see if it would work. It was also very tempting to fly away and never look back—forget this town, forget those memories, forget these people. That was easy enough to do.

So why was he looking back to the city, scanning the skies, hoping to see familiar shapes winging his way?

He huffed, growling deep in his throat—he knew why. He had made the same mistake his original had, with the Hamada boy: he had gone and gotten _attached_.

That had happened a while ago, he figured—keeping them safe from the larger predators, helping out here and there…he didn't want to, he knew better, getting attached to people who would leave or possibly die was not a smart thing.

And now here he was, like some idiot dog, disappointed because its master hadn't come home.

No…he was disappointed because people he cared about were most likely in danger, and he was doing nothing.

_I am not my original,_ he reminded himself sternly, eyes narrowed. _I do not care. I do not get attached. I will not make his fatal mistake._

_…Except I already have._

Shake his head—no. Play this smart—you have that in common, at least. Think—going back in there was suicide, he was weak, he needed rest. And besides, the others would be hiding now, with the sun up and them at risk of being seen.

And he had to do the smart thing: that is, protect the thing they came for.

He glanced at the box of gene cleansers, still sitting in the sand where he had left it. Such a long trip for such a tiny box—hard to believe the potential for normalcy was sitting in there.

He allowed himself the briefest of daydreams—turning down Tadashi's offer to come and meet his family, having to tell him that it simply wouldn't end well, slinking off to find a new life to live. There were options, other places to go—he could survive. He could live.

But first….

Lift his leg experimentally—still in pain, but manageable pain. Gimp over to the box, scoop it up carefully…glance at the city once more, check to see if anyone was looking, if anyone was coming….

And then take to the air, circling once before angling upstream, gritting his teeth against the loss of his bearings once again.

He might have to rest once or twice, but he'd get there—he'd reach the others.

He hadn't come this far to die now.


	28. The Morning After

**Chapter 28, everybody! Again, chunks of this were written ahead and then tied together—didn't want to lose any good scenes. :D In this case, it was the scene written in Nox's point of view—poor boy needs a hug.**

**As always, about ninety percent of the next ****_several _****chapters was written before I had even seen "Countdown to Catastrophe," let alone Season Two. I haven't watched "City of Monsters," either, so this is totally going to be AU and me feeling out everything from what I was able to piece together from spoilers I saw on Tumblr. Wish us luck, friends.**

**So watching BH6 has made me more interested in Japanese food and…****_dashi_**** is a type of fish sauce. Sorry, Tadashi….Fred kind of quotes Iago from ****_Aladdin,_**** by the way (whenever I write that, just assume I'm hearing it the same way he says it). Tadashi, meanwhile, is referencing the movie ****_Jungle 2 Jungle. _****And I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but when someone says a memory got swiss-cheesed? That's in reference to ****_Quantum Leap_****—it just makes a perfect visual, honestly.**

**And in the bird-nerd department: yes, animals—****_ESPECIALLY_**** birds—can get stressed if just dumped in a new environment and usually need a day or two to adjust. Birds especially because as prey animals, they're coded to treat anything new as a potential threat. It's also why if you wear glasses or have your hair a certain way they'll freak out if that changes.**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! All right, it'll be processed in one to two business days. And YES! Of course Fred has the ****_perfect_**** space for them. :D Grump definitely does. UH…..**

**SilverPhoenix, thanks for the review! UH….Ooh…oh that's good, I like that theory, very tricky….I like happy endings so keep that in mind. :)**

**Hexyah, thanks for the review! I wasn't expecting it either, but here we are. Grump will probably complain because it's crowded but secretly love it. ;)**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

Hiro was awake well before dawn, laid there in bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering how early was _too_ early to head over to Fred's.

He couldn't help but be excited though, be jittery—this was a bird-person, an actual person with wings and feathers and bird legs and a tail—this was obviously Sycorax, he could get _her_ finally with this.

_Her_ being Liv Amara.

Doctor Liv Amara, who had been excited about Baymax until she found out Hiro hadn't made him, who had donated to SFIT and was the darling of the genetic front and whom everybody loved or wanted to know, who had offered to help when Professor Orso Knox had shown up as a mutated monster—as Fred put it, _like someone had taken a lizard, a whale, and a dinosaur, mixed it up, put it into a human-shaped mold, let it freeze, thaw a little bit, then took it out._ As a geneticist—as _the_ leading geneticist in the country, no less—no one had batted an eye at her offer. Heck, _Hiro_ hadn't even batted an eye at her offer.

That was then though—that was several months ago, before monsters started showing up all over San Fransokyo, some matching Knox's appearance, others their own random mutations—like High Voltage.

Or bird-people.

At least two bird-people, the one at Fred's currently and the big orange one that had escaped—maybe it was a duo like High Voltage—no, three, Wasabi and Honey Lemon had said there was a blue one. Maybe he could pump the smaller one for information.

Yeah right—it was a kid, looked younger than him—and he was willing to bet it wasn't a genius kid either. He'd just…have to take this slow. Work with this. Try not to be too terribly excited and impatient—

Screw it—throw the covers off, scramble around, start getting dressed.

He had a bird-person to see.

* * *

Hiro had told Aunt Cass that he was heading over to Fred's to study, which wasn't a lie—she was all right with that, detained him long enough to eat breakfast and take a bento box she had made, tug him into another _last hug_ that he wholeheartedly returned.

He was _never_ taking those for granted again.

Now, though, he was pulling up to Fred's house—well, mansion—pretty certain he had broken every single traffic law he possibly could on a moped. Hop off, park it, dash up to the door and ring the bell.

Heathcliff answered it. "Master Hiro. Master Frederick is in the kitchen."

"Uh, okay, thanks?" he noised, unsure how to take the title. He followed the butler through the mansion, teased by some delicious smells before reaching the kitchen proper.

"Hiro, my main man! How'd you sleep?" Fred asked.

"Uh, fine," Hiro noised, eyeing Fred's mom—now currently locked in a good-natured argument with Heathcliff over whose job it was to cook pancakes. "Hey, Fred, it's such a nice day today—maybe we can have our study group _outside?"_

"Love that idea," Fred said, gesturing a little with his fork. "By the way dude, gonna have a stack of pancakes free for the little dude too—you didn't see him eat last night, the dude is like _starving."_

Well at least he didn't say anything incriminating like _bird-kid_. "Uh, fine. I'm going to go check on Baymax, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan, my man!"

"Hiro, did you want any?" Fred's mom asked, indicating the pan.

"Uh, not right now, had breakfast at home—smells great though!" Hiro said, walking backwards out the kitchen before bolting for the patio. Hesitate at the doors…tug open the curtain a little to peek out before opening the door and sticking his head through.

"Baymax?" he asked quietly, glancing at the little bundle of feathers on the pile of blankets.

Baymax looked up. _"Hiro."_

Okay, that was good—slip out and over to Baymax, still keeping an eye on the bird-kid. "Everything all right?"

_"The: bird-kid, has been asleep since late last night."_ Blink, return the hug. _"There, there."_

Hiro slipped off, looked the bird-kid over—yes, definitely asleep. "Okay. Fred will be out in a minute, but in the meantime we can get you out of that armor—I don't know, you think he'll be reasonable?"

_"That is uncertain."_

Hmph. "Well…not sure about leaving the armor on in the daytime when Fred's mom can see it, but those claws could rip through your vinyl, I'd think—"

_"You have reinforced my vinyl after the last time it was torn,"_ Baymax reminded him. _"And my default huggable, nonthreatening appearance may be of more use in this situation."_

"Fair point." Hiro turned, pulled out his phone, summoned Baymax's Skymax, started taking the armor off. "Now's as good a time as any to test it, I guess."

And hopefully the little guy would be waking up soon—Hiro had _way_ too many questions boiling up.

* * *

_Nox was flying through the air, through the gleaming sparkling _city_, noises and lights and action buffeting him up further, him beating his wings to keep up with 'Dashi 'Dashi was pulling ahead and Nox wanted to squawk to get him to slow down but he wasn't slowing down 'Dashi wait 'Dashi please—_

_The air was suddenly alive with nasty dark things darting and attacking him, one slamming into him—the memory of _pain-crack-bend-WRONG_ screeched across his mind again as he plummeted to the ground—_

_Dark—dark dark dark so dark he couldn't see—squawk weakly, breathlessly for 'Dashi—'Dashi please—_

_'Dashi showed up, holding a box leeching poison._

_"It takes your wings," 'Dashi told him—except this wasn't 'Dashi, 'Dashi was melting and something else was taking his place—Nox backed away, trying to scream—his throat was too tight, not wanting to work no—_

_He fell down again, tumbling into a place now lit with green screens flashing all sorts of information—scramble upright, fall again because his balance was wrong—look up to see the place collapsing no—_

_Manage to worm his way out of the debris—the dream changed and now he was struggling to swim—everything hurt everything hurt his lungs burned and nothing was right with his body his tail and wings weren't wanting to work—_

_Deep gasp when he broke the surface, weakly paddle to the beach, thrown off balance again by the change from wet to dry—_clothes_ hanging heavily off of him—just clothes—just clothes—_

_Pat himself desperately—no feathers—no tail—legs were all wrong—_

No wings.

_No—no no no—_

It takes your wings.

We'll be normal—no more feathers no more tail no more wings—

_No—no no no this wasn't right he hadn't wanted and 'Dashi wouldn't make him no—_

_He wished for the pain in his wing, because that pain meant it was still there but now it wasn't there _please_ he needed it no no no—_

_Something struck him hard, rolling him—_

_"Careful now—we don't want to hurt him."_

_No._

_No no no—struggle when the monsters grabbed him, flailing and struggling and trying to scream, trying to force his way away from the awful awful person who was in charge of the bad-place no no no—_

_The monsters had him pinned though, his feet couldn't get traction on the sand, ending uselessly no claws no wings and tail to beat against his captors—his body wasn't wanting to work—it hurt—it hurt all over, a dull pulsing ache—he was tired, he was so tired—_

_She__ grabbed his face, forced him to look up at her—he wanted to bare his teeth, hiss in defiance or fear—wanted to run, wanted to flee, wanted to be anywhere but here—_

_"No," she said, smiling. "Not when there's so much to do."_

_The monsters dragged him away—no—no—try to wrench himself free, flailing—weaker and weaker—no—nononono—his throat wasn't working nothing was working darkness was pressing in on him he didn't want to go back he didn't want to be in the dark again please no before 'Dashi saved him it was awful no 'Dashi please 'Dashi—_

_"Hey—hey—"_

"Hey, wake up!"

Nox suddenly snapped into the realization that he was free, his limbs weren't pinned—

Claws dug into the ground and shot him away and under a tree before he realized this wasn't _woods_ this wasn't _forest_ or _hills_ or _cabin_ or _desert_ 'Dashi where was 'Dashi—throat was tight _no no no_ _she _was here because if 'Dashi wasn't here _she_ was no no no—ache—pain—

One singular throbbing ache, travelling down his shoulder and through his ribs, originating from his—

_Wing—_

Glance over his shoulder, collapsing in relief and sobbing yes yes he still had his wings he still had his feathers he still had his tail and his legs were all right it was all a bad dream bad-bad-no good-bad he was—

…not safe.

Not safe not safe where was 'Dashi 'Dashi was good and safe and older-brother and—

Sobbing sharpened into keening, a pointed jagged resonating crescendo of pain no _no no no _he wasn't hearing anyone else usually one starting caused the others to go because what affected one affected all no no no where was 'Dashi where was 'Dashi 'Dashi never let this go this long _'DASHI—_

Throbbing—reminding him of Della telling how her leg felt after the _snap-white-pain-bend-WRONG_—the same sensation, shortly after…after….

_I'll find you, okay? I'LL FIND YOU!_

'Dashi had left—had flown away, taking the bad-bad-no good-bads with him, the mean flying things—but there were more, they had chased him—and he had fallen—

And his wing—_his wing his wing his wing no no no no_ try to flex it—

Bound—pain—

_He had broken his wing._

_No…._

He knew—he knew as instinctively as breathing that he needed his wings to fly and if they were broken he couldn't fly for who knew how long Della's leg had been broken for ages and ages and ages and it was still broken she couldn't use it but you needed both wings for flying he couldn't go that long without flying no no no no where was 'Dashi he needed 'Dashi _PLEASE—_

"Hey. Hey—_hey_. It's all right—calm down."

That wasn't 'Dashi—it _kind of_ sounded like 'Dashi but it wasn't the voice was all wrong but the tone was right—his muscles had all cramped up tight from him curling up so much but he managed to force his eyes open they were wet and itchy he wanted 'Dashi he needed 'Dashi not someone who sounded like him but wasn't—

This was not 'Dashi. It looked like 'Dashi, a tiny bit, but it wasn't—dark messy hair everywhere, eyes the same shape and color but not 'Dashi's eyes, didn't seem any bigger than Nox or the blue-violet thing last night with the weird orange stripes and no feathers—

This didn't have any feathers either.

"Hi," the not-Dashi said. "Remember me? From last night? Hiro."

This was not _Hiro_ Hiro had had hard skin on his shoulders and head and hands and feet and ears that poked up like Nox's and 'Dashi's and the others' and had been blue-violet with orange stripes and a black chest but it sounded the same and maybe that had been _clothes_ except now he had different _clothes_ on he wanted 'Dashi where was 'Dashi this wasn't 'Dashi—

"It's okay," the not-Dashi-not-Hiro said, sinking lower to the ground to be on eye level and acting and sounding like 'Dashi. "It's okay—you're safe now. You're at Fred's place, remember?"

No—maybe—after the _panic_ of _pain-white-bend-snap-WRONG_ there had been more _panic_, blinding—the Hiro that wasn't _this_ Hiro and the big red thing that had felt like 'Dashi but wasn't—

_Wiff-wiff-wiff-wiff-wiff—_

He jumped, scrambled back, hissing and feathers bristling as something big and white with beady black eyes and _no feathers_ came over at a slow waddle—big and soft-looking and maybe not scary after the first shock—

"No no no it's all right—this is Baymax," maybe-Hiro said, sitting up on his knees and waving his hands a little like 'Dashi did before indicating the big-white-maybe-soft-thing. "Remember Baymax?"

Yes maybe but _Baymax_ had been big and red this was not that Baymax or maybe it was like this Hiro was that Hiro and it was making the same little circular wave and didn't seem to be wearing _clothes_ so—

_"Hello,"_ the big-white-maybe-soft-maybe-Baymax said. _"We heard signs of: distress."_ He looked down—something changed on his chest. _"On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?"_

"He means how's your wing?" maybe-Hiro said, pointing at Nox.

His wing—his wing _it was still broken no no no no—_

"Hey hey hey no don't—don't cry, okay?" maybe-Hiro said, hands out. "You just—let Baymax fix it, okay? He bandaged it up he can fix it."

The big-white-maybe-soft-maybe-Baymax waddled a bit closer and Nox arched his back, trying to spread his wings but only getting the one loose and the other one hurt _no_—

_"Is the: broken bone,_ _causing you any distress?"_ Baymax asked.

Yes yes yes he hated it make it stop fix it please he couldn't not have a wing like Della didn't have a leg her leg had been broken for ages and ages and ages he couldn't stand not having his wing no please no where was 'Dashi he wanted _'Dashi_—

The big-white-maybe-soft-maybe-Baymax extended a paw with blunt fingers and no claws. _"I will apply a: local anesthetic, to stop the pain."_ Touch—poke—he flinched he hadn't seen any claws—

Stiffened when he started losing feeling starting from the poke and radiating outwards it was eating the pain yes but _it was eating his wing no no no no he needed his wing no—_

"Hey! It's okay! Hey!" maybe-Hiro barked, as Nox kept flailing and twisting trying to keep his wings in sight no no no he couldn't lose them he needed his wings he needed to be able to fly flying was as important as breathing _NO—_

_"You are distressed,"_ the big-white-maybe-dangerous-maybe-Baymax said—

Nox flinched away from him reaching for Nox, scrambled away—have to get away have to get away have to get to 'Dashi—

Slammed into something huge and flat and cold before he could even get any speed—fell backwards, keening anew—no no no please he needed to get away he needed to get to 'Dashi—

_Wiff-wiff-wiff-wiff—_

No—no not that—not the thing trying to steal his wings no—

"Hey," maybe-Hiro said, scurrying in front of him, arms out. "Don't run like that again—Baymax is just trying to help—he's trying to make you feel better, okay?"

Nox didn't care, this wasn't good this wasn't right he wanted 'Dashi _please_ 'Dashi please he was supposed to come find Nox _PLEASE_—

_I'll find you, okay? I'LL FIND YOU!_

Ginger tapping alerted him to being curled up tight and breathing fast and shallow—no no no don't be not-Dashi's-Hiro because that _wasn't_ 'Dashi's Hiro 'Dashi's Hiro would have looked like them 'Dashi's Hiro would have had feathers and wings and a tail because _I ever tell you how much you remind me of my little brother Hiro?_ And there was _no way_ 'Dashi would ever confuse _this_ with Nox so _this_ was _NOT 'Dashi's Hiro._

"Hey," Not-Dashi's-Hiro said. "Listen, Baymax isn't going to hurt you—he's just trying to make you feel better, okay? It's okay."

No—no it wasn't okay 'Dashi wasn't here 'Dashi _needed_ to be here—

"Want 'Dashi."

It had come out as a pained wheeze and Nox had to cut it off to keep a keen from following he hadn't been this miserable since the bad-place but that meant 'Dashi was coming to save him right? It had to mean 'Dashi was coming—

Not-Dashi's-Hiro sounded _confused_. "You want fish sauce?"

_Fish_ sounded good except he didn't want to eat his stomach was too tight he'd never be able to eat never ever again—"Want 'Dashi."

"I'm—I'm sorry, I don't understand."

Yes that was the problem.

Gingerly roll to his paws, glance at Not-Dashi's-Hiro and maybe-Baymax before scurrying away into the brush, keeping the tall sheerness that might have been _cliff_ but was too smooth to one side.

'Dashi was coming—'Dashi _had_ to be coming.

But in the meantime—maybe Nox could come to 'Dashi.

* * *

Well that had gone just about as well as he had expected.

Baymax blinked, looked at him. _"The: bird-kid, is highly distressed."_

"Yeah, I noticed," Hiro sighed, heading back to the patio—and on top of highly distressed, highly flighty, panicked, and about as feral as everyone had thought it might be. Great.

Fred stuck his head out. "So? How'd it go."

"So everyone's right, he's totally feral," Hiro said, flapping his arms. "Well, maybe not _totally_ feral, but like ninety-percent—pretty sure he asked for fish sauce."

"Huh," Fred said, coming the rest of the way out, carrying a dish with him. "Will he take pancakes instead?"

"I doubt it." Scrub at his hair, thinking…. "I don't know—maybe he's just terrified—new place, people he doesn't know…or maybe it's just animal logic and he doesn't know anything."

"_Ooor,_ maybe he's just hungry," Fred suggested, waggling the dish a little. "I got some leftover pancakes from breakfast—Mom made them, so they're like _THE_ best, just saying."

Hiro sighed, tapped a toe against the deck, considering the backyard before looking at Fred. "Okay, full honesty: was this a dumb idea?"

"Nah," Fred said immediately. "Little dude was hurt and sad, and you guys did your thing and helped. I mean sure he's still hurt and sad and all, but that's because he hasn't had any of Mom's pancakes yet I'm telling you you _can't_ have these pancakes and be sad they've got superpowers or something."

Hiro huffed—not exactly helpful. "Just wish I knew what was going on in that head."

"Lots of comic book stuff, my dude."

"I meant the bird-kid's."

_"I have been downloading information relating to: animal behavior,"_ Baymax said, a finger up. _"New environments can have multiple stimuli that need to be absorbed at a slow pace. Trying to rush things will only result in more stress."_

Hiro sighed—yeah, that did sound right. Didn't mean he liked it, but it sounded about right.

"So we just give little dude some time to process everything—sounds cool," Fred said. "So we give him some space…and dude, you can come in and have some pancakes I'm telling you they're awesome."

"All right," Hiro sighed, looking the backyard over again. "And you're sure he can't get out."

"Like, ninety-percent sure. Just give him a little time, and then we can come back out and win him over with the power of friendship. And pancakes."

Well if that didn't work Hiro always had the bento box Aunt Cass had packed for him—sigh, roll his shoulders, smile at Fred. "All right—let's just see how impressive these pancakes are."

"They're life-changing, my man," Fred said, leading them back in. "Trust me, Mom's pancakes fix _everything."_

Somehow, Hiro doubted it, but he was willing to humor Fred on this one. Glance back at the backyard…finally follow him in.

They'd make this work.

* * *

Tadashi felt sick—this was worse, this was _so much worse_ than when Della had broken her leg—at least when she had been injured he had been right there—

It had taken all night to lose those Sycorax goons, didn't need whatever colorful cast of characters had come swooping down and in—by the time they were able to safely circle back, the sun was rising, and 'Kase had had to bodily tackle him into a hiding spot, pointing out that alerting the city to a bunch of flying bird-people would do more harm than good.

Tadashi didn't rightly care—he had screwed up, he had screwed up so royally—

_Nox flying away screaming—he didn't know if Nox had listened to him or not, the only thing that mattered had been getting those goons off of Nox's tail—_

_"I'll find you, okay? I'LL FIND YOU!"_

And now here he was, _not_ looking, having to hide while Nox was out there scared half to death—please, Nox, _please_ have gone back to the river mouth—please don't be flying around looking for him—

"Hey," 'Kase said, nudging him, nudging him again with more force, until he finally looked up from where he was curled up. "He'll be fine, he's a smart kid—and Grump got away with the gene cleansers, I'm sure—hey, we'll finally know what he looks like under all that fluff."

She was trying to make him feel better, he knew—but it wasn't working, all he could think about was that pure shriek of terror—Nox was out there, by himself, in an environment he knew nothing about.

'Kase lowered her head, shuffled a little so she was leaning against him.

"Beating yourself up isn't going to help him right now," she told him. "Get some sleep—we can look for him tonight—check the river mouth first, and if he's there I get to tease you about all the gray hair you give yourself."

"Will you let me suck in peace?" Tadashi muttered.

"No—you have better things to do."

He did, maybe—getting some sleep, getting back to the others, following the river up _please let Nox be at the river mouth please_—

Sleep was a long time coming, and wasn't even remotely restful when it did, dropping him into nightmares about Nox getting torn to shreds, Hiro sometimes flashing in his place, screaming for him as his failure battered him and drove him into the ground—

_I told you hon—monsters don't have families._

He wasn't able to get back to sleep after waking up from _that_ nightmare—sat there staring out at the bit of the city he could see from their hiding place, squeezed where two buildings met with no windows looking down on them, 'Kase sleeping and twitching like she was having bad dreams too. He hesitated, put a hand on her shoulder—she stilled after a while, sleeping a bit more soundly. Well, _someone_ had to get a restful sleep, he figured.

Look back out over the city—after who knew how long out in the wilderness, he thought he would be happier to see the structures of buildings and streets, the certainty of food on the next corner and a home waiting for him. And he had been, last night—gushing over his city and telling it how beautiful it was and how much he missed it, the ache of homesickness going from a dull throb to a sharp pain that had filled him clear to his wingtips—it had taken everything to not zoom ahead like he knew what he was doing, to rip one of those gene cleansers out of the box and use it—to get back to normal and run back to the Lucky Cat Café, burst through the doors and hug Hiro and Aunt Cass so hard he'd hurt himself—there were still people he owed his help to, that _needed_ his help—

And now the city was suddenly something horrible, a great behemoth that had swallowed Nox up—Nox, who apparently had never seen such a place before and had been overwhelmed—Tadashi had been mentally filing away the tour they'd be taking once everything was back to normal, trying to keep Nox focused on following him and not darting away at every single shiny thing he saw—having to tell him _almost, not yet_ and brace himself for the squawk each time—

And right before things had gone sideways, when he had been explaining the gene cleansers to Nox—that look of sheer terror—of course having what he considered normal ripped from him would be horrifying, he should have thought of that, stupid stupid stupid.

And now Nox was lost somewhere in San Fransokyo, in a city that would take one look at him and recoil in horror—he had to find him. He had to find Nox before someone else did—

Before _she_ did.

The sun was taking forever to crawl across the sky, made him simultaneously wish for a watch and be glad he didn't have one on him—maybe by nightfall they'd be able to look—Nox, _please_ be at the river mouth, _please_—

At least 'Kase was right—at least Grump had gotten away with the gene cleansers, would be back to the others by now—they wouldn't be getting an explanation from him though, they'd be wondering where he and 'Kase was, possibly Nox as well—

_Day one,_ he thought, looking up at the sky. _We've got until sunset tomorrow—if we're not back by then, they'll be following the river out._

And what if they weren't back after that? They hadn't planned that far ahead. What if those Sycorax guards were looking for everyone, now that they knew they were within reach?

What if he had just endangered everyone?

_She knows._

Rub at his face, thinking—think. Plan. Nox would hopefully be at the river mouth—or maybe he'd have followed Grump back to the camp. Right. And maybe the moon was made of green cheese and maybe there _was_ a Sasquatch in Muirahara Woods and maybe those costumed kooks were busy helping them escape Sycorax. Right.

Now _that_ was something he didn't remember from before—and he was pretty sure he couldn't even blame clone-induced amnesia either. What had 'Kase called them when they were flailing away?

She was murmuring again—poke her awake. "Hey—hey! 'Kase, Grammercy wants you on his show!"

"Gppfhwhah?" she noised, sitting upright, blinking owlishly as she looked around, yawned. "Ugh…how long was I asleep?"

"Longer than I was. Listen, those guys from last night—not the Sycorax goons, the other ones—what did you call them?"

"Is this what you woke me up for?" she demanded, trying to smack the nasty taste out of her mouth.

"We're probably going to have to get moving soon anyway. So who was the costume squad?"

"Big Hero Six, I told you," she muttered, rubbing her eyes. "They're some…vigilante group…it's just a bunch of kids running around and being idiots."

Tadashi considered this, was pretty sure he'd remember if they had been a thing before. "I'm guessing this was _after_ the SFIT fire."

"I have no idea—there was a…something at Krei Tech—I heard they were involved. They started popping up again after that…the one kid's a kid, like _actual_ kid—don't remember his name."

Tadashi quirked an eyebrow at that. "Don't remember, or don't want to? He has some dumb superhero handle, doesn't he?"

"No, he's just lousy at keeping secret identities," she muttered, scratching her shoulder. "Superhero handle is Captain-something…I don't know, they crossed paths with my original a couple of times and I guess that's part of what got swiss-cheesed. Big Red is a robot, though, I remember that."

Okay, that was different—and honestly sounded like the sort of thing Hiro would just _nerd_ over. "Well Fred will be happy at local superheroes," Tadashi figured. "But I'm not sure about being caught by them—I feel like it'd just complicate things."

"Probably. Now can I go back to bed?"

"Sure," he muttered, looking back over the city. "I just…I just really hope everyone's okay."

She grunted, grabbed his shoulders—

Tadashi found himself on his side with one of her wings draped over him.

"Now shut up and go to sleep," she groaned. "You're going to be an absolute wreck and I'm not saving your stupid bacon when you run into the side of a building."

"Aw, she does care," he said, trying for a teasing tone—it came out as a weak croak instead. "But—I _can't,_ 'Kase, I can't stop thinking about it—I—I told him I'd keep him safe and I _failed_…I'm—"

She put a couple of fingers on his mouth, eyes still shut. "You really don't understand the concept of _shut up,_ do you?"

"You're going to have to be more supportive than this, 'Kase."

"I will after I get more sleep. You too—you'll feel better if you do."

"I doubt it."

"Humor me."

He sighed, long and through the nose…curled up a little tighter, leading edge of her wing cutting out the sun. She snuggled in closer, muttering _finally_….

Curled up next to someone else, wing blocking him from the rest of the world, he could understand why the kids were always after this—it felt good, it felt safe, like there was a full barrier between him and all the dangers and stresses of the world, like he was hidden from it all, at least temporarily.

No wonder Nox was always desperately after this, wouldn't even think of falling asleep unless it was curled up on or against Tadashi.

And there we went again—hand to his face, trying to block out the downward spiral of guilt—it had been one job, _one job,_ and he had failed miserably. He should have gone with his instincts, should have marched Nox back to camp, tied him to a tree if he had to—it was Della breaking her leg all over again, but worse, a thousand times worse—

"I can hear you not going to sleep," 'Kase muttered.

"Sorry," he muttered, pulling his hand away. "Talking about it would help."

"No it wouldn't," she told him, not opening her eyes. "Because all you're going to say is how it's your fault Nox is missing, because obviously you should have predicted those goons coming after us and Nox panicking and everything going sideways and we still would have had to draw them away and Nox would have most likely snuck away by now coming to find you. It's not always about you, not everything is your fault."

"Some of it could be—I could have changed _something_—"

"Me not getting any sleep is your fault."

Tadashi sighed—glanced up when she tugged his hat up and rested her forehead against his.

"I'll help you look," she told him. "You know I will—I'll help you scour this city from top to bottom if we have to. But get some sleep first—you won't be any use to anyone if you don't."

Scrub at his arms, look up—sun still high in the sky; it'd be a long time before they could start looking. He had to concede her point.

"Fine," he said finally. "But as soon as we can, we start looking."

"Sure," she murmured. "Now please, go to sleep."

Sleep was still a long time coming, and he still felt sick at himself—her wing covering him was making him relax despite himself though, made him start noticing the exhaustion underneath everything else.

_Please,_ he begged skywards, as he finally succumbed to unconsciousness. _Please, keep Nox safe._

_Please, let him be waiting for me someplace safe._


	29. Dashi-Hiro

**Chapter 29, everybody! With this chapter being written before the ones preceding it even. I hope you all have been liking the bird-kids' sections, because this entire chapter (all sixteen pages of it!) are written from Nox's point of view. ^^**

**Continuing blanket disclaimer: I still have not finished Season Two. We're flying blind, boys.**

**And Tumblr informs me that today is Tadashi Hamada's birthday? Happy birthday to the best bird boi big brother have some more gray hair for your trouble. ^^;**

**Again, reading up on Japanese food for _Big Hero 6_ fics makes me really want to try some of these dishes. _Reign of Feathers_ is a story concept I came up with one day with a friend over the phone—mostly because my Molouccan Cockatoo was also loudly demanding my time and got very vocal when I stopped petting her.**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! *screams with you* YES! And yes but we can argue that that's part of what got swiss-cheesed and not that the writer totally forgot about it/learned about it later and forgot to add it in earlier. XD True…and yes. And got your form back, your number is 24—good luck.**

**SilverPhoenix, thanks for the review! Aw, thanks! :D Yes please, Tadashi, get more sleep this isn't helping anyone. And _stay,_ Nox. Oh yes I learned that and went _that must go in this._ XD**

**Hexyah, thanks for the review! Yes he is! And I do love writing those two together so I'm glad you do too. :D HMMM…and yes! Wait we had snacks all this time? :O**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

Nox had explored the entirety of this place, and he had come to the conclusion that he was trapped.

_Trapped_ was bad—trapped was very bad, made worse by the open sky above his head, because open sky above his head meant he could _fly_ out, but he couldn't fly not with a wing broken and bound he needed his wing—

It was still tingling, still there, but the gnawing feeling was beginning to creep up his neck to his head he didn't need whatever bite had happened eating his brain no—he needed 'Dashi, 'Dashi would fix things 'Dashi would make things better 'Dashi was good and older-brother and _safe_ and he needed all of that right now 'Dashi _please_—

He was pacing the cliff-face for the third time now, hoping for a different outcome—gone one way, followed it all the way around to the big nest, turn the other way, followed it all the way around to the big nest, turn the other way, followed it all the way around to the big nest—

Maybe he could dig under—they had dug in the ground before, him and the others—there were tasty wrigglies in the ground and if you were fast you could eat them before the olders said _no don't do that_—but digging under a _cliff_ was foolishness, _cliffs_ were the start of a different level that wouldn't work—

Stand, put his hands flat against the cliff face, scraping his claws experimentally—jump, slap his hands to it, dig claws in—sharp scrape as his claws found no traction on the way down, their bases aching, worse than when he clawed against _bark_, clawing against _bark_ made them feel good because it was a just-right tug but this was bad-bad-bad—

No. Think. Couldn't fly out couldn't dig out couldn't climb out—there had to be another way.

Start looking at the trees critically as he made his way to the big nest again—they grew tall and leafy, would be great fun to climb, _that_ branch would be great to hang upside-down from—

He missed the others.

No, focus—the trees grew nice and tall, and some grew close to the cliffs—if he could climb all the way up to them, he could reach the clifftops, jump over and out. He could do that.

And then what? Even with the bite that made his wing feel like _nothing_, nothing had happened here that was _bad_—it wasn't the bad-place, it was safe it was like the _forest_ and _hills_ but…fake. It felt fake.

_Cage._

That was a _word_, one he had heard a lot in the bad-place, before 'Dashi saved him—and that was the main problem, 'Dashi wasn't here he needed 'Dashi he wanted 'Dashi 'Dashi was good and safe and older-brother and if he was here Nox would feel better because then he'd have _warm_ and _safe_ and _older-brother_ and _safe_ but this was too much emptiness and echoing there were no others here he needed a flock a flight he couldn't stomach being by himself being _only_ it made him think too much of the bad-place—

He was shivering—shake himself to work it out, feathers on end—only one wing free to flash out.

Could you fly with only one wing? He tried—beat as hard as he could, ended up only going in circles and rolling himself—he needed both wings free and working.

Poke at his bound wing experimentally, thought that even if he did tear it free it would be useless so long as that tingling _nothing_ feeling was still there—and then the _remember_ of what his wing had _done_ after the _pain-snap-bend-WRONG_—he knew his wings had to feel a certain way to work, knew it as instinctively as breathing—so long as his wing still had _pain-bend-WRONG_, it wouldn't work.

No—pace, thinking—there had to be a way out, there had to be a way to 'Dashi—no flying, no climbing, no digging—he could climb a tree, jump, escape, but then what? He was a—a fledgling-youngling-hatchling-younger…_kid_, 'Dashi said _kid_—ground-bound, no way to _fly_ if _danger-bad-no good-danger_ threatened—the world wasn't so scary when the air was always a safe space only a few wingbeats away, but now….

Now the sky was as far away as the clouds in it, high-high-high and unreachable—gravity sucked at his bones, the ground tugging him down and into it—

He shot up the nearest tree, trying to escape that pull—no—he still felt it, trying to suck him down, trying to undermine his climbing because now even climbing had a risk because if he slipped he couldn't just fling his wings out to catch himself—no no no no no—

Sit in the crook of a branch, claws digging in tight, trying hard to choke down the _sad_ trying to claw its way out—no no no he needed his wings he needed 'Dashi he needed to be able to fly he needed 'Dashi he needed 'Dashi like he needed air needed to be able to fly—

Claws still digging into the bark, face pressed against it, trying to keep the keening in—he wanted 'Dashi where was 'Dashi 'Dashi needed to be _here_ 'Dashi was good and older-brother and safe—

_I'll find you, okay? I'LL FIND YOU!_

'Dashi didn't _lie,_ 'Dashi didn't tell not-true things 'Dashi _would_ come and find him….

Did that mean he needed to stay here?

No, 'Dashi told him to go to the river mouth he'd be looking for him there—but he couldn't fly there now, he'd have to go on foot and that was too far, that was _walking_ and it would be dangerous—here was _safe_, _trapped_ but _safe_, there was no bad-smells nothing lurking that he could sense…just Not-Dashi's-Hiro and Maybe-Baymax.

His ears perked at a new sound—a familiar sound—one he had heard last night—Not-Dashi's-Hiro and Maybe-Baymax were part of a flock a flight he remembered—

He couldn't see from here, and branching was scary now that he couldn't catch himself if he missed…he'd have to climb down to see.

Gingerly, carefully, digging claws in deep as he inched his way down…the ground felt solid and safe and he felt bad for feeling like that _ground_ was not _safe_ _sky_ was _safe_ he needed to be able to fly—

Slink-pad-sneak through the brush, paws just _so_ in the _shh_-quiet way, wings tucked in tight, tail loose but not twitching, ears constantly pricked for noise as he slipped through this fake-fake forest everything was put just _so_ and it being just _so_ meant it wasn't real—

Just enough brush between him and _open_ to see Not-Dashi's-Hiro and Maybe-Baymax in the clearing with _Fwah,_ Not-Dashi's-Hiro and Fwah holding things, looking around—

"Hey little dude!" Fwah was calling, holding his thing up. "We got breakfast! You're sure he's still here?"

"Baymax said so," Not-Dashi's-Hiro said, shoulders twitching like he wanted to settle wings—maybe—maybe—

An awful thought occurred to him—maybe that _was_ 'Dashi's Hiro, and the awful-bad-no good _poison_ that 'Dashi had found had taken his wings—fight to keep a shiver down no—

Maybe-Baymax looked around, looked right at him—stay still stay hidden he was hidden his wings and feathers blended in he was good at hiding he could sneak up on the others and play hide-and-find easy—

Maybe-Baymax looked at Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro and Fwah, pointed right at Nox. "_The: bird-kid, is over there."_

Stiffen—duck down, move through the brush as fast as he could around the clearing without making sound while still being _shh_-quiet he couldn't tell which way downwind was but maybe—Maybe-Baymax was tracking him though, _how-how-how_ this wasn't good he needed to get out of here this wasn't like when the others knew he was there this was different this could be bad he needed to be off the ground he needed to be high-high-high—

He was firmly up a tree and wedged in a crook of _branch_, claws dug in tight and well-hidden by leaves—at least, he thought so, until Maybe-Baymax waddled up to the tree, looked up at him, blinked—waved in the little circle.

_"Hello,"_ Maybe-Baymax greeted, non-threatening.

Nox hissed weakly—Maybe-Baymax would be too good at hide-and-find.

Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro and Fwah came over too, looked up—took a moment to pick Nox out.

"Dude," Fwah said.

"How did you even…you know what, nevermind," Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro said, holding his thing up for Nox to better see. "Are you hungry? I got a bento box from Aunt Cass."

"And _I_ have leftover pancakes from Mom—they're _really_ tasty!"

_Hungry_ yes hungry he hadn't eaten in ages and ages and ages not since they managed to sneak a few wrigglies without the olders noticing he was pretty sure he dreamt eating last night but he didn't trust them wasn't sure he trusted them maybe definitely not trusted Maybe-Baymax his wing was still tingling _nothingness_ even though he could still feel its weight—claw the branch under him and ruffle his feathers in _anxious_, he didn't know what a _bento box_ was didn't know what a _pancakes_ was but their body tone said _yes-good-come-see-good-come down-yes-please_ and wasn't threatening—Maybe-Baymax, he didn't know, Maybe-Baymax didn't really have body tone or wings or feathers or a face he could search to see what he was thinking Maybe-Baymax had little beady eyes that didn't give away anything but Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro and Fwah didn't seem to think he was threatening but they didn't have wings so they didn't _know_—

Scent—something smelled _good yes good_ made his stomach rumble—Fwah waved the thing he was holding up, stepped back a few paces—

Nox was tearing up chunks of _bark_ now, resolve weakening—up in the tree was probably-safe, not as safe as _flying_ but maybe-safe—but that smelled _so good_ and he was hungry-hungry-hungry and wanted _food_ and that was maybe-food—

Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro opened the thing he had, showing lots of different colors—picked something out and put it in his mouth—

_Food!_

Less-care more-care went into getting down the tree—food-food-food yes food please food he was hungry-hungry-hungry and he hadn't eaten in forever and ever and ever and ages and ages and ages—bolt for Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro the moment he touched ground, earlier caution forgotten that was _food_ and maybe Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro was okay—

Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro _yeep_ed and dodged behind Maybe-Baymax—Fwah was still out in the open, Fwah had something that smelled like _food_—Nox adjusted his trajectory minutely, there would be no speed lost and speed was everything when there was _food_ he needed to get his mouthful before others got it and olders stopped it—

Fwah yelped in alarm, skidded back, fell down, arm still holding up the thing—Nox bounced on his chest, claws already up and reaching for the thing that smelled like _food_—

Big-soft-white wrapped around his middle, hauled him up away from _food_—Maybe-Baymax had him no no no no he needed his wings but he needed food too let him go no no no no no—

_"Manners are important to safety and general health,"_ Maybe-Baymax said. _"I also recommend eating slowly."_

No no no no food was fast it didn't last long he needed it it was right there let him have it _please_—

"Want-want-want!" Nox barked in the middle of his indignant squawking and screeching—_words,_ 'Dashi would say, _use your words—_"Want-want-want-want—"

"Oh…kay," Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro noised. "So…Fred, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm cool," Fwah said, popping up. "I'm guessing little dude is mondo hungry though, amirite?"

Nox didn't know who _little dude_ was, but he kept pawing at the thing Fwah was holding that smelled good smelled like _food_ please food please—

Fwah picked something off the thing, held it out—Nox's claws caught it—

"_Please eat slowly,"_ Maybe-Baymax said. _"Eating too fast can result in choking."_

Nox didn't listen Nox stuffed the whole thing in his mouth he could chew once it was in there but it had to get to his mouth first if it wasn't in his mouth it was fair game and wrestling with the others taught him that _food_ went in the mouth _first_ above all else don't wait around with food out in the open until it was in the mouth someone else could snatch it and it needed to be in there and this was _so good yes good good good—_

"I am thinking the little dude is _very_ hungry," Fwah said once the _food_ was safe in Nox's mouth, tongue making sure the drool didn't escape that tasted good too—

"No kidding," Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro said. "Let's just…go back to the patio. Baymax?"

Maybe-Baymax started waddling away no no no Nox still wanted the food there was more food no no no scrabble and try to squirm food please food—

_Fwah_ handed him a smaller piece of food that quickly disappeared, then another one and another one and suddenly Maybe-Baymax was on the flat hollow log-thing in front of the nest asking if he should put Nox down now yes yes yes let go let go let go—

"Okay, _easy_—" Fwah managed to get out, putting the thing down as Maybe-Baymax let go—Nox immediately shot for it, squawking and making sure to look big just in case—Fwah scurried back—food food food food food—

"Okay yo bro wait a minute we don't eat the good dishes," Fwah said once the _soft sweet good yes good_ food was gone and Nox had moved on to gnawing on the thing it had been on—Fwah grabbed it, Nox tugged back, claws scraping, squawking _no no no no no—_

"Ah-_hem,"_ Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro noised, like 'Dashi would do—look to see him with the thing on the ground, lifting a section to reveal _more_ food—

_This_ food was different—this food was all sorts of different he had never had food like this before and every bite made his mouth water and explode and tingle and this was _so so good—_

By the time his claws scraped nothing but _wood_, when he had to concede that the thing was empty and he had eaten all the food, Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro had moved away, and Fwah was coming back out with something that smelled of _food_—

"Now, this is _milk_," Fwah said, holding it up for Nox to see. "You drink it like this."

Nox watched, still working on getting his tongue into every little crevice in the thing to get every last bit of food out of it—it had been like a _log_ full of wrigglies except these wrigglies hadn't tried to escape and no one had told him _no don't do that_—put the thing aside and accepted the thing Fwah handed him—sniff—the contents sloshed inside when he moved—touch his tongue to it—

Trying to be greedy about it made it run down his jaw and into his feathers and _clothes,_ and that was just unpleasant-feeling—throw the thing away, work on licking himself clean—

"Okay, so glad I went with the plastic," Fwah said, pointing where the thing had flown.

"You think?" Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro asked, looking up from—

Nox quickly finished up his cleaning, hissed when Maybe-Baymax sprayed a little water on him—scrubbed at himself, keeping an eye on the thing in Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro's lap, because that was a 'Dashi-thing, he knew it he remembered how much fun it was even though it had been ages and ages and ages since 'Dashi had pulled it out for play—

Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro held it away from Nox when he came over to see though, like 'Dashi would—whistle _disappointment_, bound around a little—maybe he could trick Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro away from the thing so _he_ could play with it—and this time _without_ Grump trying to tell him what to do!

Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro wasn't having it, Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro was watching him warily, like he thought Nox would _pounce_, and not in a good way in a bad way like the _cougar_ had tried to _pounce_ on Louie—

Thinking of the others subdued him a little—this was the first time in a long while where he was _full-happy-full,_ but he didn't have any of the others to play with or sleep against or 'Dashi he missed 'Dashi—

But this _could be_ 'Dashi's-Hiro, which might mean….

Try bouncing around the big log a few more times, to see if anyone was in a _play_ mood—no one, not even Maybe-Baymax when he tackled him—or tried to, he bounced off of him which was weird and he wasn't sure if he liked Maybe-Baymax anyway because he took wings—circle around widely, giving Maybe-Baymax pointed _no like-don't trust-no-no-no-no_ looks—warble and chirp at Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro, making him glance up again—keeping Nox in the corner of his eye as Nox circled over, padding up and mumbling and warbling, leaning against his back—

"What are you doing?" Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro asked, faint notes of _alarm_ trickling into the flat question—Nox looked around, ears pricked—relaxed when there was no _threat_ to see or scent or hear, flopped down against Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro, curling up around him and favoring his broken wing and murmuring and mumbling 'Dashi would be here soon 'Dashi would come find them and then everything would be good—

Blinked in surprise when Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro moved away, sat somewhere else. Hmm, maybe he suspected _trick_, that would take the 'Dashi-thing away from him.

…Come to think of it, that was a fine idea.

Go back up to him, chirping and whistling, make a few false swipes at the 'Dashi-thing, slow and obvious _miss_—go sit next to him, make it look like he was _just looking_—it was different than how 'Dashi liked it to look how Grump wanted it to look maybe Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro wasn't doing it right—spread his good unbound wing, gently, quietly, slowly—around Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro, waggle the wingtip so the movement made him look—

Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro was ready to intercept though—he must know this game.

"This isn't a toy," Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro said sternly.

"But this is!" Fwah said, coming out of the nest and holding something round and colorful up. "Check this out!"

Fwah shook it—

Nox's attention snapped fully to him and the thing, mostly the thing—it was round it was SHINY it was colorful and it _jingled_—

Fwah threw it.

Nox didn't care that he threw it, didn't care that his wing clipped Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro in his pursuit, didn't care that his claws dug deep scrapes in the log, didn't care that he just tore off, what he _did_ care about was that the colorful _jingle_-thing was bounding away, that it was _escaping_—

His claws struck it and it went fleeing—pursue—close close close _JUMP—_

It slipped out of his paws, still fleeing, still jingling—he kept on it, mind chanting _want-want-WANT_ as he ran after it—for a moment nothing existed except _chase_, him and the colorful _jingling_ thing that he wanted-wanted-wanted and would _hunt_ and _catch_—THERE!

He was ready this time, angling his paws so it had nowhere to flee, digging his claws in, rolling it—still jingling it jingled with every move he didn't know what this was but he WANTED IT YES and he had it he had it had it had it it was _his_ now no one else's—

"Did you get it?" Fwah asked, coming over—Nox nodded, screeching _win_—

Fwah assumed a _going to pounce_ stance. "I'm gonna get it."

No—no this was _his_ he had hunted it it was his-his-his and he was going to hiss and squawk and defend it—

"I'm gonna get it—_I'm gonna get it,"_ Fwah insisted, going bounce-bounce-bounce around Nox, making him swerve to keep him in full sight—tail was whipping, claws gripping the ground—he was enjoying this new _play_ despite himself, because Fwah was _obvious_ not actually trying to get the colorful _jingle_ but he was pretending like he _was_ going to and Nox had to defend it and Nox liked this game this was good play—

"Hey Fred!" Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro called. "I think I got something!"

"Ooh! Be right back, little dude," Fwah said, retreating.

Nox squawked in surprise and _indignant_—what was so important that _play_ was abandoned? It didn't even sound _urgent-danger-run_!

Bat around the _jingle_-thing for a few moments, grip hard to pick up without it escaping—trying to fit it into his mouth didn't work, he had to hold it tucked tight to his chest so he could _walk_ on three paws instead of just two walking on two legs was _bleh_—climb up the side of the log-thing to see Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro and Fwah looking at the 'Dashi-thing sure the 'Dashi-thing was _fun_ but the _jingle_-thing was _new_ and _more fun_—

Put down the _jingle-_thing, paw it back and forth before making sure it was between his front paws, draw himself up, wing extended as far as it would go before mantling, tail thrashing as he loudly proclaimed that the _jingle-_thing was _his_ it was his no one else could get it _mine-mine-mine_ no one could take it from him—

They glanced at him but didn't seem to want to play, Fwah going "One minute little dude, okay?"

_No_ that was _not okay_—_minutes_ were _forever_, and playing by himself was no-fun no-fun no-fun—flop down, sending the _jingle-_thing escaping _wait no—_

Finally retrieve the _jingle_-thing, pad back up to Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro and Fwah, chirp and squawk and whistle to try to get their attention again—the 'Dashi-thing was fun but the _jingle-_thing was _more fun_ play-play-play _please_ play playing by himself made it too obvious that he was by himself and _only_ and that was bad-bad-no good-bad—

"So those warehouses were definitely Sycorax," Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro said, scratching his face and glaring at the 'Dashi-thing. "Except…I don't know, keeping living things there seems…kind of stupid."

"Very stupid," Fwah agreed. "Everyone knows warehouses are for illegal _object-_things. Now _labs—_labs are for the illegal living stuff."

Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro had a _look_ on his face, eyes closed and muscles twitching—like 'Dashi got when Louie or Nox or one of the others _did something_ and he was trying to keep from squawking. Maybe Fwah was about to get a _time-out_.

Glance at Maybe-Baymax, blinking at Nox occasionally before looking back at Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro and Fwah, keeping an eye on all of them—Nox still didn't trust him, wasn't sure about trying to get him to _play_…really at this point he wanted to get Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro playing, to see if maybe he was _definitely_ 'Dashi's-Hiro—

And if he was, that meant that that nasty no good-_bad_ poison that 'Dashi had found had been used on him, had stripped him of his wings and tail and feathers and everything good that made him flock made him flight—but 'Dashi would fix that, 'Dashi would know what to do, 'Dashi was good and safe and older-brother and knows-everything 'Dashi would fix it—

Mince closer, jingle the _jingle-_thing a little—hold it out and use it to poke Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro in the arm, light enough to be _annoying_ but with enough force that he couldn't just _ignore_.

Fwah looked first. "Want me to throw that again, little dude?"

Nox wobbled his head—yes-no-maybe—he wanted _play_, yes but he wanted _Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro_ to play—

Poke Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro again with the _jingle-_thing—usual talk wasn't working, maybe the poison took that understanding too. _Words, Nox, use your words—_

"Hrrh—_Hurrruhh. _Hhhruh-Hhroh-Hirrruh—Hirrro—Hirro. 'Dashi-Hiro."

Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro had been glancing at him every time he tried to get the _word_ right—attention snapped to him on the last try. "What?"

Nox chirped at his success—maybe 'Dashi was right, maybe _words_ really did _do things_. "'Dashi-Hiro." Poke him again when he reacted—excitement was starting to boil in him, it wasn't a _maybe_ this might actually definitely maybe really be _'Dashi's-Hiro—_"'Dashi-Hiro! 'Dashi-Hiro!"

"Hey, that's great little dude!" Fwah said excitedly, shuffling closer and pointing at himself. "Say my name—is my name _Fred?"_

_That_ was a 'Dashi-thing _they knew 'Dashi they had to—_

"Want 'Dashi," Nox told Fwah with all the certainty he could muster—they knew 'Dashi they'd be able to find him—

"Working on it my dude. Can you say _Fred_?"

If that's what it took to get 'Dashi—"Fwah."

"No, _Fred."_

"Fwah."

"Fred."

"Fwah."

"Pretty sure there's an R in there somewhere."

"Fwah."

"Wait," Definitely-Dashi's-Hiro said, paw out—pointed at Nox. "_'Dashi—_you mean _Ta_dashi? T-Tadashi Hamada?"

Nox _fwee_d and chirped and nodded, bouncing in place as Fwah slowly looked stunned and Definitely-Dashi's-Hiro dug around in his _clothes_, pulled something out to play with before holding it out to Nox.

_"This_ Tadashi," he said, tone _question-scared_. Nox blinked at the thing he was holding—

Recognized the face on it.

"_Yes!"_ Nox squeaked, claws tapping on the thing gripping it trying to see around and into it _that was 'Dashi_—"Yes 'Dashi yes—" squawk when 'Dashi's-Hiro took it back, looking all sorts of _concern-worry-scared_ as he showed it to Fwah, looked back up at Nox—

"Wait," Fwah said slowly, pointing.

"This doesn't make any sense," 'Dashi's-Hiro muttered. _"How_ would he—"

Nox was bounding all over the log-thing now, chirping and _fwee_ing and cheering yes-yes-yes this _was_ 'Dashi's-Hiro _I ever tell you you remind me of my little brother Hiro? THIS_ was what 'Dashi had been looking for, _this_ was why they had been going all over it wasn't because any one and all places had been bad-bad-no good-bad—it was because _this_ was 'Dashi's-Hiro this was _I ever tell you you remind me of my little brother Hiro_ this was flock was flight and meant that 'Dashi knew he was here and was looking for him had been looking for him—

_This meant 'Dashi would find him._

_I'll find you, okay? I'LL FIND YOU!_

'Dashi was looking for _'Dashi's-Hiro_ that meant he'd _find_ 'Dashi's-Hiro and so long as Nox _stayed_ with 'Dashi's-Hiro that meant 'Dashi would find _Nox_ too all he had to do was stay in the safe-nest fake-nest with 'Dashi's-Hiro and that meant 'Dashi would _FIND HIM._

_"Your mood has improved,"_ Maybe-Baymax observed as Nox bounded by—yes-yes-yes his mood had very much improved 'Dashi was coming 'Dashi was coming _here—_

Bound back to 'Dashi's-Hiro, chirping and warbling and _happy good yes good_ 'Dashi was coming 'Dashi was good and safe and older-brother and this was 'Dashi's-Hiro which meant he was flock was flight—

Which meant Nox wasn't _only_ anymore, there was at least one other here with him and so long as there was at least one other it meant they weren't _only_ they were flock were flight—

"Ack—what are you doing—Fred, _help,"_ 'Dashi's-Hiro squawked, not expecting the _hug_ the wing-wrap which was a lousy one because one wing was still bound and one arm was still preoccupied with the _jingle-_thing—

_The jingle-thing._

Let go, back up—go back to poking 'Dashi's-Hiro with the _jingle-_thing, chirping and squawking _play-play-play_ this was 'Dashi's-Hiro 'Dashi was coming YES—

'Dashi's-Hiro glanced at Fwah, who made two fists with thumbs poking up—he had seen the olders do it and usually it was with a _happy_ expression like Fwah had right now so it must mean something good—'Dashi's-Hiro hesitated, took the _jingle-_thing—Nox glanced at the 'Dashi-thing—

The 'Dashi-thing was unattended—

Louie wasn't _there,_ but his voice rang in Nox's head clear as the sky—_opportunity-chance-distraction-GO—_

_"HEY!"_ 'Dashi's-Hiro barked—but it was too late too late too late Nox had the 'Dashi-thing scurried up a straight-tree-thing with it carefully hugged to his chest sat up in a branch of the straight-tree-thing, tail and toes curled, 'Dashi-thing on his lap, whistling and squawking _success_ and _WIN_ and _mine-mine-mine—_

"Give me that back!" 'Dashi's-Hiro squawked—HA! That wasn't enough come up here and get it—meantime….

Flex his claws a little, blinking at the _screen_ where things were supposed to show up—couldn't see anything…mantle a wing overhead like Lena did when trying to see through water that had _sun_ shining on it—aha.

There were _things_ Nox _knew_, even without any of the olders telling him even without 'Dashi or Grump telling him—like how the little squares _did things_ that showed up on the _screen_, and how if you did certain things certain things would happen—'Dashi's-Hiro wasn't anywhere near what 'Dashi always wanted to see on the _screen_ what Grump rumbled about 'Dashi's-Hiro obviously didn't know how to _play_ this game—

_"Please be careful,"_ Maybe-Baymax said, interrupting Nox's _play_—look up to see 'Dashi's-Hiro balancing on Maybe-Baymax with Fwah hopping about, hauling himself up onto one of the branches of the straight-tree-thing—back paws were encased in something and front paws had only nubs for claws and with no tail no wonder he wasn't doing well—whistle _concern_ and _no-no-no mine-mine-mine-mine—_

'Dashi's-Hiro reached for the 'Dashi-thing—Nox lifted it away—'Dashi's-Hiro pulled back, face scrunched in obvious _thinking_—

Looked down. "Fred, hand me that ball, will you?"

"On it," Fwah said—Nox looked down, interested, saw Fwah holding a paw up to 'Dashi's-Hiro, 'Dashi's-Hiro taking—

Holding up the _jingle-_thing.

"Trade you," 'Dashi's-Hiro offered.

Nox was familiar with this 'Dashi would do this sometimes when Nox or one of the others had something he wanted or thought was _no don't do that_—and he _liked_ the _jingle-_thing the 'Dashi-thing was _fun_ but the _jingle-_thing was _more fun_ and he had done the thing with the 'Dashi-thing and that was pretty much it he thought but the _jingle-_thing was _more fun—_

Whistle, giving him an _I suspect-you-trick_ look—carefully balance the 'Dashi-thing on a branch between them—'Dashi's-Hiro grabbed it, Nox wasn't letting go just yet—held out the _jingle-_thing—

Fake-out toss—Nox looked but his ears said that the _jingle-_thing was still in 'Dashi's-Hiro's paw—snap his attention back to him, hiss at the _trick—_

'Dashi's-Hiro tossed the _jingle-_thing at Nox.

Nox immediately let go of the 'Dashi-thing, _caught_ the _jingle_-thing—the _jingle-_thing was _his_ now squawk _win_—

'Dashi's-Hiro was already handing the 'Dashi-thing down to Fwah, didn't seem bothered by the loss of the _jingle-_thing—_WHY_ the _jingle_-thing was _much_ more interesting—

Poke 'Dashi's-Hiro with the _jingle-_thing, whistle _play-play-play_ the _jingle-_thing was _much_ better play _please_ play—

'Dashi's-Hiro was trying to climb down now, Maybe-Baymax underneath and paws up to catch—hesitation and _no-bad_ in his actions—without tail to balance and tell without wings to catch without claws to grip 'Dashi's-Hiro was having a hard time with something so basic as _climbing—_

_It takes your wings._

_No more feathers no more tail no more wings—_

Nox shivered violently—_that_ was what happened with that no-good _bad_ poison that 'Dashi had found, that was _bad_ and it was best if everyone stayed _far_ away from it—

Lean down as he watched 'Dashi's-Hiro lower himself, whistle and chirp _comfort_ and _okay_ and _'Dashi_ 'Dashi was coming 'Dashi would fix everything 'Dashi would make it so he had wings and tail and feathers again 'Dashi was good and older-brother and safe—the poison robbed _understanding_, too; _words, Nox, use your words._

"'Dashi good okay yes good yes," he said instead, prompting 'Dashi's-Hiro to look up at him—sort through the rest of the _words_ he knew…maybe 'Dashi was right, maybe he should have been working harder like Webby and Huey to learn _words_. "'Dashi 'Dashi 'Dashi _hiir_ 'Dashi yes want 'Dashi—"

'Dashi's-Hiro was hanging there now, looking hurt-pain now—maybe—maybe he thought that 'Dashi wasn't coming, that it had been _so long_ (and it _had_ been ages and ages and ages of flying through _desert_ and _woods_ and _cabin_ and _hills_ and _rocks_ and around _towns_)—that it had been _so long_ that 'Dashi had forgotten but 'Dashi _hadn't_ forgotten 'Dashi was coming 'Dashi was coming _right now_ 'Dashi would be here any moment—

This conviction seized him so strongly that he looked up, scanning the skies, looking for yellow-orange-red-brown feathers and green _hoodie,_ ears pricked for his name—'Dashi was coming 'Dashi was coming _here_ 'Dashi would find them and make everything good and safe again—

No wingbeats stirred the air, no one called his name—_disappoint_ pain-hurt dug into him, inside-pain worse than when Louie had called him a _stupid bald-face no-beak_—but '_Dashi was coming._ 'Dashi was definitely coming because Nox was _here_ and 'Dashi's-Hiro was _here_ 'Dashi's-Hiro was _I ever tell you you remind me of my little brother Hiro_ and he was _here now_ which meant that _'Dashi was coming_—

Look down to see that 'Dashi's-Hiro was on the ground again, looking up at him—scrape drop bounce _ground_ crouch, reach up and _hug_ again before he could _flinch_ away that was awful that he thought _hug_ was bad had he been in the bad-place too that would make sense _she_ would rob him of wings for no reason _she_ liked to make _pain_ and _hurt_ and _scared_ but 'Dashi had saved Nox 'Dashi had saved everyone 'Dashi was coming and he was good and older brother and safe—

"Fred, _help_," 'Dashi's-Hiro squeaked, still tight under the _hug_.

"Okay okay," Fwah said. "How about _I'm gonna get it? _I'm gonna get that ball huh? Huh?"

Nox hissed at Fwah, he was _not_ getting the _jingle-_thing the _jingle-_thing was _his_—but _ball_ sounded fun too…keep his good wing half-wrapped around 'Dashi's-Hiro, glance around for what _ball_ was—

'Dashi's-Hiro ducked out from under his wing and dove for the 'Dashi-thing.

Hiss at Fwah again—that was _trick_ and _trick_ was _not fun_ when you were on the receiving end—keep tight hold on the _jingle-_thing, look big-scary-threaten _his jingle-_thing _his_—

"What on earth," 'Dashi's-Hiro muttered, looking at the 'Dashi-thing. "Fred, come look at this."

"No!" Nox squawked, aggravated that _play_ was interrupted _again_ play was _important _why why WHY did they keep _not_ playing—

Fwah and 'Dashi's-Hiro glanced up—Fwah held up a finger. "One minute little dude, honest."

_NO_ minutes were _FOREVER_ flop down, _jingle-_thing tight in his grip this time, have a tantrum.

_Wiff-wiff-wiff-wiff—_

No no no no not Maybe-Baymax Maybe-Baymax stole wings—jump up and run behind 'Dashi's-Hiro—shouldn't use other for shield against wing-stealers but 'Dashi's-Hiro didn't _have_ wings to steal—

_It takes your wings._

Another shiver—no wings no wings that had to be the worst thing ever that had to be worse than even the bad-place at least he had never been without wings in the bad-place—

'Dashi's-Hiro didn't even look up from the 'Dashi-thing, not concerned in the slightest about Maybe-Baymax-Maybe-Wing-Stealer.

"I don't get it," 'Dashi's-Hiro said, tilting the 'Dashi-thing a little—Nox spread a wing over his head to be _helpful_. "Too close," 'Dashi's-Hiro protested, pushing up on his wing. "But this—this is inside Sycorax—_how_—"

"Was this something you had on the computer before?" Fwah asked.

"No—no I hadn't gotten to hacking their system yet—"

'Dashi's-Hiro cut off, looked at Nox with _I suspect-you-trick_ all over his face—shook his head—

"No," he said. "No way, that's not possible."

"What?" Fwah asked.

"This—the bird-kid—this happened in between him taking the computer and me getting it back—"

Fwah gasped. "A mini bird-hacker!"

"And _HOW_ would he know this!?"

"Maybe this is why birds are on wires all the time—_all this time,_ they were hacking our systems. The bird uprising is at hand, I can sense it."

"Fred, _no."_

"Fred yes—it's true, I read it in _Reign of Feathers._ Bird-people are the next step—_oh gasp it's happening."_

'Dashi's-Hiro snapped fingers at Fwah—Nox _fwee_d _interest_ at that. "Fred, birds are not going to overthrow us and turn us into slaves, you can't believe everything you read."

"But that's what they _want_ you to think."

"I give up," 'Dashi's-Hiro sighed, closing the 'Dashi-thing—

Nox squawked in alarm when he turned it over and pulled it apart.

'Dashi's-Hiro flinched, looked at him and his _no-no-no—_"No, you're supposed to do this—when you hack something, especially if you left it long enough for them to track you—you're supposed to take the battery out and the GPS too." Blink, look like 'Dashi did when one of them did something they shouldn't. "Wait, why am I explaining this to you?"

"Because you two are getting along and I'd like to revisit the idea of adopting a bird-kid and making him like, team mascot," Fwah said.

"What happened to fearing the bird-people because it means the birds are going to overthrow us?" 'Dashi's-Hiro asked, taking the 'Dashi-thing further apart—Nox picked up one of the pieces, turned it over—got ready to put it in his mouth, got it snatched away by 'Dashi's-Hiro.

"No, that's not for eating," 'Dashi's-Hiro said, erasing any doubt that this was _I ever tell you you remind me of my little brother Hiro?_ Because that was _definitely_ 'Dashi.

"I'm not discounting the birds-overthrowing-us theory," Fwah said, fingers up. "But I'm just saying, he's right here right now and _come on_, flying supers are TOTALLY a thing—he needs a code-name. Like—like Bird-Boy, or-or Feather Dude or—I'll come up with something good, I swear, just give me a minute."

_Minute_ meant _forever_ which meant no _play_—and Nox wasn't sure about giving the _jingle-_thing to 'Dashi's-Hiro if he made it a habit of tearing up things—

Which was about the time 'Dashi's-Hiro looked at the _jingle-_thing, _calculate-plan-trick_ on his face.

"No," Nox noised, holding the _jingle-_thing away from 'Dashi's-Hiro—Fwah tried to grab it—'Dashi's-Hiro got it when Nox moved it away from Fwah—squawk, flap his good unbound wing, digging his claws in and leaning back—no-no-no the _jingle-_thing was _HIS—_

"Fred," 'Dashi's-Hiro grunted, wrapped back feet slipping on the hollow log-thing. "A little help…."

Fwah considered, moved around behind Nox, avoiding his wing—

_"AAAH gotcha!"_

Jabbing fingers like Lena's _poking_ made startled skittering feelings in his stomach like when 'Dashi did _BBPPTH_, made him shriek-_NO_ and let go—Nox went tumbling one way, 'Dashi's-Hiro went tumbling the other way, _jingle-_thing went flying—flail, kick his feet, not-fun _trick—_

_Pain_ suddenly lanced up his broken-bound wing, made him roll over with _shreee_ that hurt it hurt he wanted 'Dashi—

Fwah went _sorry-sorry-sorry_, 'Dashi's-Hiro squawked and asked if he was _okay—_

_Wiff-wiff-wiff-wiff-wiff—_

Nox scrambled to his feet, puffed up and hissing at Maybe-Baymax, skittering behind Fwah before dodging behind 'Dashi's-Hiro no-no-no Maybe-Baymax stole wings no—

"Seriously?" 'Dashi's-Hiro asked, looking at him no no keep an eye on Maybe-Baymax you don't take your eye off of something that could be _danger_—

"Dude," Fwah said. "Baymax is like the least-threatening thing on the planet. Jell-O is more threatening. No offense."

Maybe-Baymax looked at Fwah. _"I am a robot—I cannot be offended."_ Attention back to Nox puff up and hiss look big-threatening-GRRR maybe Maybe-Baymax would back down then—

"_Is the: broken wing, causing you any distress?"_ Maybe-Baymax asked.

Yes yes it was but he didn't want Maybe-Baymax near him Maybe-Baymax stole wings and he had seen 'Dashi's-Hiro's expression when Fwah said that Maybe-Baymax wasn't _threat_ 'Dashi's-Hiro looked like that was a not-truth 'Dashi's-Hiro had looked _concerned_ and _worried_ like at a bad _remember_ and Nox wasn't going to risk it look up at 'Dashi's-Hiro again and aark _run-yes-go-yes-not here-yes—_

"Look," 'Dashi's-Hiro said, turning to face Nox and gesturing at Maybe-Baymax _no-no-no_ you didn't take eye off of _threat_—"Baymax isn't going to hurt you—his whole thing is helping people."

_"If you are experiencing pain, it could be from the: anesthetic wearing off,"_ Maybe-Baymax said, looking at Nox. _"It may also be that you jostled the: broken bone, and that it needs to be examined."_

Nox hissed again, ears flat, baring teeth—he still didn't trust Maybe-Baymax Maybe-Baymax stole wings—

"Ooh wait I think I get it," Fwah said, skittering around to stick an arm out in front of Maybe-Baymax. "Poke me."

Maybe-Baymax blinked at Fwah's arm, blinked at Fwah. "_You are uninjured."_

"Fred means—just kind of touch Fred's arm," 'Dashi's-Hiro said, gesturing at Nox. "So he knows you're not actually hurting anything?"

Maybe-Baymax blinked at 'Dashi's-Hiro, blinked at Fwah, poked his arm.

"Oh hey, look at that!" Fwah said, flexing his fingers and moving his arm around. "Totally all right. Not a problem."

Nox shuffled his front paws, putting more weight on his haunches, shifting so he was hiding behind 'Dashi's-Hiro better—no-no-no he didn't trust Maybe-Baymax but Fwah and 'Dashi's-Hiro did but they didn't have wings they didn't _know_—

"Hey," 'Dashi's-Hiro said, turning to face him, getting down on his haunches so he couldn't lower himself and pretend _no_—"Baymax isn't going to hurt you, okay? Baymax is fine. You're okay, all right? It's okay."

Fear was making _shiver_ go under his feathers—and 'Dashi's-Hiro sounded _so much_ like 'Dashi right then—

'Dashi's-Hiro fell back with _squawk_ but stayed upright startled at Nox diving at him and hanging on tight and burying his face in his shoulder and curling up against him tight wilfed down to nothing no-no-no he wanted to be _away_ from this from Maybe-Baymax but 'Dashi's-Hiro wouldn't go and Nox couldn't _leave_ because 'Dashi was looking for them and 'Dashi needed them together 'Dashi was _good_ and _safe_ and he _wanted. 'DASHI._

Ginger patting on his back, 'Dashi's-Hiro saying _okay-okay_ in strained voice, _wiff-wiff-wiff_ coming close Nox squeaked in fear and buried his face tighter against 'Dashi's-Hiro—

_"The: broken bone, is not out of alignment,"_ Maybe-Baymax said. _"The impact may have caused pain, however, and the: local anesthetic, has possibly worn off. I recommend another dose."_

"Go for it, Baymax," 'Dashi's-Hiro said, causing Nox to whimper. "Hey, it's okay—Baymax isn't going to hurt you."

Whimper again no no no Maybe-Baymax stole wings and Nox needed his wings he needed to be able to fly like he needed to breathe needed 'Dashi—

Poke to his good wing made him squawk, look—saw 'Dashi's-Hiro's paw waving—

Poke to his broken-bound wing made him look, see Maybe-Baymax pulling a paw away, felt fresh tingling eating away at his wing _no_—

"No panicking this time," 'Dashi's-Hiro said, putting a paw on Nox's forehead. "Look at Fred, does Fred look bothered?"

"Fred is totally not bothered," Fwah put in.

Nox wasn't sure who _Fred_ was Nox didn't much care Nox was whimpering again because he didn't _WANT_ to be okay with losing his wing he didn't _WANT_ to be okay with being ground-bound flying was everything it might not be as important as 'Dashi but it was IMPORTANT—

"Um," 'Dashi's-Hiro noised. "Baymax, maybe you can tell him how long it'll take before his wing's better."

_"Judging from his current health and age, the: broken bone, will take four to six weeks to heal,"_ Maybe-Baymax said.

Nox hissed weakly at Maybe-Baymax none of that sounded good he didn't know what _week_ was he just wanted his wing back he wanted _'Dashi_ he wanted 'Dashi _so bad—_

"Want 'Dashi," he muttered, burying his face against 'Dashi's-Hiro's shoulder, sorry that 'Dashi's-Hiro didn't have wings wings were important he should know this _why—_

He felt _hesitate_ from 'Dashi's-Hiro, like he had been hit and was more surprised than hurt—felt gentle pat-pat-pat on his wing—

"Yeah," 'Dashi's-Hiro said quietly. "I do too."

Soft _fwee_—'Dashi's-Hiro knew 'Dashi's-Hiro understood—'Dashi was important he wanted 'Dashi too and maybe Nox would be all right with sharing because this was _I ever tell you how much you remind me of my little brother Hiro?_ This was flock was flight most definitely—

He slowly stopped shaking, let go enough to back up so 'Dashi's-Hiro was between him and Maybe-Baymax, hiss at Maybe-Baymax again—charge him and bounce off his stomach _what?_ Roll upright, fluff his feathers, go back around to behind 'Dashi's-Hiro and act like he meant to do that, ignoring Fwah and 'Dashi's-Hiro snickering like he _didn't_ mean to do that.

"Are you okay now?" 'Dashi's-Hiro asked, looking at him.

"Okay," Nox echoed, feeling the start of _sleep_ trying to sneak up and pounce on him. "Okay. Okay…." Drift, try to jerk awake—maybe it was time for _sleep_. At least for a little bit—and when he woke up, 'Dashi would be here!

Nox curled back up around 'Dashi's-Hiro, hooking his good wing around 'Dashi's-Hiro's waist, ignoring _uh_s and attempts to tug his wing off, drifting in and out of _sleep_ he was good he was full he was content and happy not as happy as if 'Dashi and the others were here but they _would_ be here because 'Dashi's-Hiro was here 'Dashi was looking for them 'Dashi would _find them_—

Half-dreaming now, satisfied 'Dashi would fix everything…Nox's wing would be better not _broken_ not _bound_ and they'd be far far away from here—not that the Fwah-nest was _bad_…maybe the others could come here would their two flocks two flights get along?

'Dashi's-Hiro would be better too, after 'Dashi fixed what the no-good bad poison had done—maybe black feathers like Nox's that turned shimmery and pretty in bright _sun_, maybe with splotches of warm colors like in 'Dashi's feathers—would be closer to Nox's though because _I ever tell you you remind me of my little brother Hiro?_ Bald-faced no-beak like Nox, but that wouldn't be _bad_ it would be good because then it was more than the one Nox wouldn't be _only_ Nox would have someone else his age with no beak who'd understand and come up with new games new tricks new fun…wings ached and claws twitched at the thought….

'Dashi's-Hiro tried to move away, tighten his wing a little and whimper—_no_. No Nox didn't want to sleep alone he wasn't _only_ if 'Dashi's-Hiro was here and 'Dashi's-Hiro wasn't _only_ with Nox here had it been so long of being _only_ that 'Dashi's-Hiro just didn't _know_?

Curl up tighter and flip his tail across 'Dashi's-Hiro's legs, warble _comfort_ and _okay_ and _others-safe-here_…'Dashi would be coming soon everything would be all right then everything would be good then…'Dashi's-Hiro would be able to do everything properly again, run cling climb play fly curl up with others and sleep….

And sleep finally came for Nox.


	30. Hugs and Dumplings

**Chapter 30, everybody! Nice number, it makes me happy. :D**

**Continuing blanket disclaimer: I still have not finished Season Two. We're flying blind, boys. I _did,_ however, watch the Season 3 premiere last night—not sure how I feel about the more comedy-centric approach but we'll see. :\ Although it was kind of funny that they brought up the question of if Mini-Max is an official part of the team—which this chapter did months ago when I wrote it. ^^**

**So yeah Fred's referencing _Men in Black _and later _Monsters, Inc._—and Hiro's referencing _The Good Dinosaur _and Wheatley in _Portal 2_. Gauguin is in reference to _Calvin and Hobbes_, while Lee and Kirby are of course Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. :D Fred and Baymax did have that exchange in canon as well…also canon is Baymax lifting that much weight because he says it in the movie, as well as Fred not being allowed pets because reasons. And the reference to art being felt. And of course Fred's dad's advice for names is alliteration _he's STAN LEE._**

**Also yes that's Fred's full name heard it once in the show and then looked it up on the wiki to confirm. ^^**

**And yes, that's a _big_ reference to the _Sonic the Hedgehog_ movie between Chris and Liv. I really love that exchange, thought it'd fit them well…and then watching "Lie Detector" showed that it was. :O I also kind of picture them with Yzma and Kronk's dynamic—which is also present in the show, both with them and with Supersonic Sue and Stu. Someone on the animation team was obviously a fan. Liv is also referencing the Fell Progenitor from the _Books of the Raksura_ series—check that series out, I beg of you. She's also kind of referencing the _Jurassic Park _movie—and yes, you can skip the books there. :P**

**In other news, the Okiru drink Fred's referencing comes from an episode of _Baby Daddy,_ which can be summed up as _Three Men and a Baby: The Series_. Fun stuff though, and adds an extra source to reference. _Okiru _also means _wake up_, which makes sense as it's an energy drink. _Okiru, OKAY!_**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! No worries, we have soundproof rooms for just such emergencies! And YES! Thank you! :D Yes we can have a chapter or two from Nox's point of view, as a treat. :D All right—and yes he is—unless someone takes out his Tadashi chip then all bets are off. D:**

**Hexyah, thanks for the review! Actually I had that phone conversation in like 2010, but it does fit in with how weird this year has been. :\ Ah, thank you—I wasn't sure how such a long chapter solely from Nox's point of view would be taken, so I'm glad people have been liking it. :D Fred is that cool older brother and is probably surprisingly good with kids. :D**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

Hiro had tried to get out of the mess he had found himself in, he really had.

Okay, good news, the bird-kid wasn't the skittish bundle of nerves it had been this morning.

Bad news: said bird-kid had apparently decided it was going to latch onto Hiro and never let go.

In other news: said bird-kid could also hack computers, to his amazement and frustration—getting his laptop back in working order was going to take some finagling and probably a trip to Good Luck Alley, which exactly no one would approve of.

In weirder news: the bird-kid didn't care about fish broth—but he had now posited a million-dollar question to Hiro.

Just—_HOW_ had this bird-kid known about Tadashi?

Hiro wasn't getting any clear ideas—this kid looked pretty young…and he was pretty certain he would have known if Tadashi had been involved with bird-people before…well, before the fire. Scrub at his face, frustrated—

_"Hiro,"_ Baymax said. _"You seem troubled."_

"Do I?" Hiro asked, trying to worm his way out of the bird-kid's grasp—he had been expecting a cat tail with feathers when he tried moving the tail, but it felt like a sheath of muscle the entire way down. And don't get him started on the wing—more muscle, locked in place, couldn't move it or scootch sideways without waking the bird-kid up, and that wouldn't solve anything. Flop his hands down, sigh…consider before trying to scootch out from under the wing and tail.

"Mnnh," the bird-kid noised, curling tighter around him—great.

"Hiro!" Fred hissed from the door. "I got snacks—is he asleep?"

"I have no idea," Hiro sighed, stuck with his upper half draped over the bird-kid's side. Look—"His eyes are closed, does that count?"

"I'll take it—here you go bro. And—dude, I gotta take a picture, this is _way_ too cute."

Hiro glared at him through the whole thing.

"So, was thinking about the name, and Dad's advice with naming things is always to go for alliteration," Fred said, sitting down crosslegged next to him.

"How about helping me get out of this first?" Hiro asked. "Since you got your evidence that it happened."

"Yeah sure," Fred said, hooking his fingers under the leading edge of the wing and lifting. "Holy cow this guy's strong."

"Yeah, I noticed," Hiro muttered, trying to squirm out from under the wing—

"Mnnh!" the bird-kid noised—curled up tighter, arms wrapped around Hiro's waist now.

"Okay, my dude, I don't think you're getting out of this," Fred observed.

"Yay for me," Hiro sighed, tossing his hands up before flopping them to the sides. Blow out an irritated sigh….

"What do you think?" he asked Fred. "About the bird-kid apparently recognizing a picture of Tadashi."

"Mega-weird," Fred said, sucking on his chocolate milkshake, expression crumpled in thought. "Hmm…aha. It's a conspiracy. Like…Tadashi was enlisted in some top-secret thing—like the Men In Black. Like how Elvis didn't really die, he just went home."

Hiro scowled at that—that was ridiculous, Tadashi was…Tadashi was _gone._

…Because if he wasn't gone, then he would have found his way home by now, no matter what. He would have at least _called_, or contacted them somehow to let them know he was all right—he wouldn't just vanish off the face of the earth and do this to them.

He didn't want to, but his mind went to the events of last Halloween all on its own—that moment, those awful moments when he thought, just for a minute, that Tadashi _was_ back, _was_ all right—

Only to find out it was all a trick.

"Maybe he saw a picture somewhere," Hiro tried, wanting to get his mind out of that rut—it was well-worn and led places he didn't want to think about, now or ever. "Only I'm not sure where…or why he'd be so fixated."

"And why he'd start calling you _'Dashi-Hiro_," Fred pointed out. "I mean, that implies a connection, doesn't it? OOH! I know! _Clones."_

"Yeah, let's not," Hiro said.

"It's a possibility—or Tadashi was enrolled in the MIB and the SFIT fire was a coverup—there's a conspiracy theory here, I can sense it."

_"Fred,"_ Hiro stressed, prompting the older boy to look at him. "Let's not."

"All right," Fred said, apparently seeing the importance of dropping the topic—he took another sip of his milkshake before continuing. "So what are we going to do with the bird-kid?"

That was the million-dollar question, wasn't it.

"I don't know," Hiro sighed. "I mean, we couldn't just _leave_ him there, but…I don't know."

"I'm still of the opinion we're looking at a villain to hero story—teach him the way of the hero, preferably through a musical number and/or montage, and then—big finish—_Big Hero Seven."_

"Uh, yeah, no," Hiro said, still trying to worm his way out. No dice, the kid had latched on firmly and wasn't moving.

"Uh yeah yes—it'll be a really impressive montage too, really blow the animation budget."

Hiro decided he wasn't going to ask, gave up on trying to struggle free. Huff, lay there, warm from a combination of sun and hot-blooded bird-boy, trying _very_ hard not to doze because he had gotten exactly no sleep last night thinking about this whole mess. They could do something about this, with this bird-kid of questionable intelligence that somehow knew Tadashi….

"—And then, when the bad guys all make their season finale last stand—Hiro, dude, are you even listening?" Fred asked.

"Nnh-hnh, sure," Hiro muttered. "Just resting my eyes."

"Cool bro—visualize while I paint this picture of _AWESOMENESS."_

Yeah, sure—pretty sure he mumbled something to that effect—

Was out.

* * *

There were problems, she decided, and the security cameras from last night detailed all of them.

Well, the good news—she knew where at least _some_ of the escaped experiments had gone to. And considering what was missing from the accounting that morning, they had come here for a specific reason.

_Isn't that cute,_ she thought, watching as the larger one grabbed the little bird-boy and tossed him to the skylight. _The little abomination wants to be normal again._

Which wasn't a fair description, to be honest, but she was more than a little frustrated at this group—they had recovered only a third of the experiments that had escaped, the remaining twenty just vanishing into thin air—only for their little ringleader to show up at one of her warehouses months later. Should have had him set up in one of the cells before he woke up, but she had been banking on the alert system to let her know, hadn't been banking on it pinging late.

Personally, she blamed _him_—although she had no idea how he could have accessed the pertinent data.

But the good news: four of her escaped experiments, two of which were _his_ clones, were back on her radar—dismiss the idea that he could have communicated something to them, he was in no position to be doing that.

He was in no position to do anything, to be honest, but she dismissed that thought for now in favor of focusing on the important things.

Like the fact that the one was heading for Muirahara Woods when the drones lost track of it. Well, she'd have to bump up the timetable for that one, didn't she? Ned Ludd was already pretty far along—

"Hey—"

_"Yii!"_ she yelped, jostled out of her musings by her 'assistant' popping up next to her. "Don't _scare_ me!" she scolded, half-hitting him against the shoulder—solid as a rock, just like she had wanted, didn't even twitch from the hit.

He at least had the decency to look sheepish, held up a coffee cup. "Just thought you might like a vegan soy latte to take your mind off things."

"Don't be ridiculous—of course I'd like one," she said, taking it from him. "I love the way you make them."

"Thank you," he said, looking at the security footage. "So what's the plan, then?"

She held up a hand, took a deep breath, centered herself, took a long sip of her latte. Ah, perfect.

"The plan is we get them back," she said, like it was the simplest, most obvious thing in the world. "Have they reached the news yet?"

"Not yet, as far as we can gather."

"Good—then we get them back before they can get on the radar."

"What happened to letting Big Hero Six clean up the mess?"

"Big Hero Six is starting to get to be too much trouble," she told him. "And then that brat Hamada boy—I wouldn't mind getting _him_ off the street." She was certain she had plenty of experiments to test on mouthy little boys who couldn't leave well enough alone. "But first, we clean this mess up, starting with seeing if the rest of that little escaped group is in Muirahara Woods."

"I'm on it," he said, already retreating to the security room. Good. Dismiss the screens—"Oh, and your intern is here."

"Good," she said—needed _something_ to brighten her day, and someone she didn't genetically engineer that still looked at her with adoration was a great pick-me-up. Take another minute to compose herself—

Was all smiles when Karmi stuck her head in. "Dr. Amara? Chris said you wanted to see me?"

"Of course I did—sit down, I've got a bit before my next meeting and I want to hear _all_ about your work."

Yes, she mused as the young lady ran in, practically vibrating with excitement—get her mind off of things for a moment, and then….

Oh there were _plenty_ of other things to do after.

* * *

Hiro woke up feeling vaguely disoriented, pretty sure that his room had a ceiling the last he checked.

Movement beneath him oriented him quickly enough, made him squirm and struggle free—the bird-kid stretched, enabling him to finally regain his freedom after…he didn't know for sure, but his sore back and the position of the sun suggested it was more than an hour. Get up, stretch—

"'Dashi."

Hiro winced, looked at the bird-kid half-up, looking around hopefully…visibly deflate for a moment.

Hiro knew that feeling on an intimate level—that described most mornings for him.

The bird-kid shook his head, sending the ear tufts flapping against his face—looked at Hiro, chirped before bounding up and hugging him. "'Dashi-Hiro."

"Uh, yeah," Hiro said, working his way free. "We're going to have to talk about physical boundaries. _This_ is _my_ bubble, okay?" Frown as the bird-kid immediately went back to his side. "No, there's—look." Step back, draw a line with his toe. "My space. Personal boundaries. You're not listening," he added, when the bird-kid immediately went back to his side. "Do you understand anything I'm saying? Anything at all? Say 'apple.' 'Apple.'"

The bird-kid looked around, looked at his hands, looked at Hiro's hands, looked at the nearby trees.

"No," he reported, looking at Hiro.

"Okay, so that would suggest…I don't know." Look around…no apple trees, maybe? No apples? Maybe he should try something else. Point at the nearby patio chair. "This is a chair. Say 'chair.'"

"Chrr."

"Okay so there's hope. My space," he said, outlining the space with his arms. "Mine. Not yours." The bird-kid immediately went back to his side. "Okay, now I'm thinking you're just willingly ignoring me now."

"'Dashi-Hiro," the bird-kid said, tugging on his hoodie. "'Dashi-Hiro yes—" a lot of chirping and warbling he didn't understand. "'Dashi-Hiro yes."

"'Dashi-Hiro no. Just—just Hiro." Scrub at his face. Look around again—where was Baymax? "How about this—that's a tree. Say 'tree.'"

"Fwee."

"I guess that's close enough."

The bird-kid twitched his ears, long feathers flicking—looked directly at the patio doors right before Fred opened them, coming back out with a plate, followed by Baymax, also with a plate.

"Hey dudes you're up—_hogeezno!"_ Fred yelped, falling backwards as the bird-kid bolted for him and tackled him.

"Hey _no_ that's _Fred's_ personal space!" Hiro squawked, jumping forward and dragging the bird-kid off of Fred.

"My dude, we gotta talk about flying hug presses when my hands aren't free," Fred wheezed, sitting up. "What happened to—thanks Baymax," Fred said, accepting the plate Baymax handed back to him. "So this is little dude's lunch and I am going to put it right over here on the floor."

Hiro nodded, let go—smaller than him the bird-kid might have been, but he was apparently all muscle.

_"Please eat slowly,"_ Baymax said. _"Eating too fast may result in choking."_

"Maybe he hasn't eaten well in a while," Hiro guessed, accepting the plate Baymax handed him. "And I think I'm eating in a chair—I don't want to get pinned again."

"Dude, you guys were _out_," Fred said, following him and sitting in the next chair. Wait for Hiro's moment of silence to be over before continuing. "Busy outlining the whole ten-step plan of villainy to heroism and you're sleeping through it. Did you not get any sleep last night?"

"Not really," Hiro admitted, digging into the dumplings. "I thought you got out of these."

"Well we haven't seen any little dumplings for a while so it's like, tentative testing. Little dude seems to like it though," he said, indicating the bird-kid licking the plate.

"Little dude?"

"Sorta a placeholder title until we hash out an appropriately awesome name for him. I'm thinking…Birbert."

"That's going to be a _hard_ no."

"Thought I'd throw it out there. Let's see, _Robin_ is out, _Hawkeye_ is taken, _Blackie_ is too on the nose…hmm, we'll come up with something, start a naming pool."

"Kuro—it means _black,"_ Hiro suggested. Glance over at the bird-kid, who was now sitting next to him. "What do you think—hey, this is _mine."_ Put his hand down to stop the claws questing over to his plate.

_"There are more dumplings if you require more food,"_ Baymax said. _"However, it is important that you do not overeat, especially after eating very little, as you could experience stomach pains."_

Hiro blinked at that. "He's starving? Like _literally_ starving?"

_"The: bird-kid, shows signs of being underfed. This could be from being unable to find enough to eat, as he also shows signs of living outdoors for an extended period."_

So that could poke a hole in him being from Sycorax…."I can't imagine bird-people occurring naturally though—maybe he escaped from Sycorax and has been living in the woods since then?"

"Hmm, but why come to the city then?" Fred asked, pondering.

Hiro had an idea, thanks to what the bird-kid had done. "Let's wait until the others get here to theorize. Where are they, by the way?"

"Gogo said something about following a lead, Wasabi is disinfecting his costume, and Honey Lemon said she had to visit some of her family," Fred reported. "They should be here a little later though."

"All right," Hiro said, moving his plate—the bird-kid ducked down. He moved his plate again, just a bit before the bird-kid tried from the other side of the table. Watch as the hand quested around a bit—skin had a bit of a grayish cast, pale, but he had obviously spent time in the sun. What was really truly worth noting was the dusky scales growing along the back of the limb and the dark claws curving out where regular nails should be.

"You're really going to have to do better than that," Hiro said when the bird-kid peeked over. Wince a bit at the weak hiss, felt him crawl past his feet—move the dish again before the bird-kid popped back up on the other side. "Baymax, maybe you _should_ go get some more dumplings."

Baymax blinked at the bird-kid, now sitting and eyeing Hiro's dumplings like he could will them over and into his mouth. _"I will bring more dumplings."_

_"Thank you, _Baymax. No stop—fine, here, fetch." Toss a dumpling across the patio—the bird-kid tore off after it, pounced on it and ate it.

Baymax blinked at the bird-kid, at Hiro. _"That was unsanitary."_

"Five-second rule, Baymax," Fred put in.

Baymax blinked at Fred. _"The: five-second rule, is in reality a myth. Germs and other pathogens come into contact with food immediately after it touches the ground—"_

_"Hey!"_ Hiro barked—had lost another dumpling. Look under the table—back up quickly when the bird-kid took the opportunity to try for the dumplings again. "Baymax can get you more, wait like five minutes and leave mine alone."

"NO!" the bird-kid wailed, flattening himself against the patio. And sounding like he was warming up for a tantrum.

"Dude," Fred noised. "It's not like we've got a dumpling shortage, man."

"UGH fine here," Hiro said, putting his plate next to the bird-kid. "I can get more myself."

The tantrum immediately ceased—the bird-kid chirped, quickly packed away the dumplings.

"And while we're in there," Fred said. "The saferoom's ready, so we can try getting little dude in there."

"It's better than being outside," Hiro mused—he had been a little worried about rain last night, or the infamous San Fransokyo fog. Glance at the bird-kid when he tapped on Hiro's leg. "No I don't want the dumpling."

The bird-kid seemed confused by that, popped the dumpling he had offered into his mouth, watching Hiro carefully…mantled over the plate, like he thought Hiro or Fred would try for it. "We're seriously not going to try for that," Hiro told him. "You've drooled on it."

"Nah bro, it's like—here," Fred offered, hunkering down a little. "I'm gonna get it—_I'm gonna get it."_

The bird-kid spun to face Fred, hissing and puffing out.

"Fred, we're trying to make him friendly," Hiro pointed out. "I don't see how aggravating him helps."

"Nah," Fred said, putting more weight on his feet and digging in his pocket. "I'm gonna get it—_gasp! I got it!"_

The bird-kid squawked when Fred pulled a dumpling out of his pocket and ate it—looked back at the plate before looking back at Fred and growling, good wing still mantled as he dragged the plate away.

"You did _not_ have that in your pocket," Hiro said flatly.

"Good job, Hiro!" Fred said, shooting finger-guns at him. "Gotta sell the illusion."

Baymax blinked at him. _"That was also unsanitary."_

* * *

It took a few minutes before the bird-kid was convinced that he had gotten all the flavor off the plates, went bounding around the patio again before bouncing off of Baymax once more.

"Now what did Baymax ever do to you?" Hiro asked, as the bird-kid flipped upright and hissed at Baymax.

"'Dashi-Hiro," the bird-kid chirped, scuttling over to him—Hiro stood up quickly when he tried to crawl into Hiro's lap, sagged when the bird-kid decided that hugging was the better option.

"Aw," Fred noised, hands clasped. "This is good, this is very good—recognizing us as good guys, nice guys…good fluff, wholesome fluff, ten out of ten want more of next chapter."

"Fred," Hiro said, trying to squirm free of the bird-kid's hug. "Remember how we all agreed that we'd tell each other when we weren't speaking recognizable English anymore?"

"Yeah?"

"You're not speaking recognizable English anymore."

"Oh right—what I'm saying is, this is the part of the thing where we're looking at a successful conversion from bird-villain to bird-hero, pretty soon we'll be having to call ourselves _Big Hero Seven_. Or…Seven and a Half—dude, should I have been counting Mini-Max this whole time?"

_"Fred."_

"Oh right—hey little dude, want to go inside?" Fred asked the bird-kid, who had at least let go of Hiro, although he was still too close for comfort with a hand hooked in Hiro's hoodie. "We got an awesome room set up!"

"Fwah," the bird-kid said, batting a hand at Fred.

"Gasp—_that's right_, that's my name! We're connecting! Still needs an R in it, though."

_"Fred,"_ Hiro groaned—better switch tacks. "Baymax, help."

Baymax toddled closer, scooped the bird-kid up—blinked when it hissed and jumped out of his grasp to hide behind Hiro. "Seriously?" Hiro asked.

"No wait I got an idea," Fred offered. "Baymax, pick Hiro up."

Baymax blinked at Fred, then Hiro; scooped Hiro up. Looked at Fred, back at Hiro, patted Hiro on the head. _"There, there."_

"Great—now Hiro, look happy."

"Like Baymax poking you," Hiro guessed. When Fred nodded: "Fair enough. You're really comfy by the way, Baymax."

_"Thank you,"_ Baymax said, adjusting his hold when Hiro leaned back a bit to look at the bird-kid. Said bird-kid was shuffling and bouncing around near Baymax, watching Hiro with naked concern.

"I'm totally fine," Hiro said, lacing his fingers and crossing his ankles. "Don't I look totally fine?"

"Maybe big grin instead of smile," Fred suggested. "Really sell it."

"What if instead we sold how plushy and soft Baymax is really? And huggable—hug _him_." Fred did so. "I meant the bird-kid, Fred."

"Still not passing on this opportunity," Fred said.

"Right." And the bird-kid now had his hands on Baymax's side, pawing up until he was patting at Baymax's arms and trying for Hiro—Hiro moved a bit so he was against Baymax's chest and out of reach. "See? Comfy."

The bird-kid was still squawking and bouncing—Hiro tapped Baymax, indicated he put him down. Baymax did so, had to catch Hiro when the bird-kid pounced on him in a hug, chittering and scrubbing his face against Hiro's hoodie.

"I am _totally_ fine, honest," Hiro protested. The bird-kid circled around him, patted his hands on Hiro's back a few times squawking _no—_Hiro sighed, went and hugged Baymax. "See? Huggable."

Baymax returned the hug, patting Hiro on the head a few times. The bird-kid watched, obviously confused, but for what reason Hiro couldn't guess. Or maybe he could—Baymax _did_ look like a marshmallow instead of something that might have matched the bird-kid's build. Maybe that was it.

"Baymax is nice," Hiro insisted, keeping his voice chipper.

"Baymax is _totally_ nice—or do you need a practice hug?" Fred asked, on his knees and arms spread. "Because I am great at hugging—not as good as Baymax but…okay so the situation here calls for the one-armed side hug like so…."

"Beh," the bird-kid noised, now looking at Fred like he didn't make sense either. Seemed torn on something…finally gingerly returned Fred's hug by wrapping his good wing around Fred's other shoulder.

"Dude," Fred said, eyes wide. "I feel like this is a special moment."

Hiro sighed—not quite what he was angling for.

_"The act of hugging can improve one's mood,"_ Baymax said.

Hiro tightened his hug. "Then I need a serious one, right now."

"Ooh, can I get a Baymax-hug too?" Fred asked.

_"You may,"_ Baymax said, accepting Fred's hug.

"See?" Hiro asked, gesturing to Baymax. "Baymax is fine."

The bird-kid still didn't seem convinced, stood to pat Fred on the back, going _no no no no_—

"Oh hey you wanted a turn?" Fred asked, stepping away from Baymax. The bird-kid skittered back, hissing a little—looked at Hiro with concern. "Okay so maybe…ah," Fred continued, jumping on Baymax. "Ta-da, see? He can take my weight too, you're totally fine."

_"I can lift up to one thousand pounds,"_ Baymax announced.

"See?" Fred asked, slipping off of Baymax. "Totally cool."

The bird-kid looked at Hiro again, back at Baymax—shuffled a little—

Jumped up on Baymax, easily clearing Hiro's height—scrabbled a little before Baymax caught him and patted him on the head. _"There, there."_

The bird-kid still looked concerned, tried to dig his claws into Baymax's vinyl—good news, his vinyl was strong enough to resist those sharp curving talons. Bad news, apparently not being able to latch on made the bird-kid distressed.

"Um—maybe—lift him up a little, Baymax," Hiro said, trying not to do the fretting-brother thing he remembered Tadashi doing a lot. He wasn't sure which was worse, the bird-kid reopening those old wounds or the concept that he was acting like a mini-Tadashi.

Baymax did so, letting the bird-kid grab him around his neck—the bird-kid seemed to calm down once he had somewhere to hang onto, sat there for a moment before hauling himself up to peer over Baymax's shoulder and pat at his back.

Ah, right. If the bird-kid spent all his time with two other bird-people, then seeing people (and a healthcare robot) without wings was probably odd. The bird-kid slipped off down Baymax's back, shook himself…seemed to debate before running back around and jumping back into Baymax's arms.

"All right, little dude!" Fred cheered. "You see the awesomeness that is Baymax!"

"Brrpth," the bird-kid noised, slipping sideways out of Baymax's arms like a cat would, spine slinky-looking and bending more than regular human spines really ought to. Baymax seemed to think so too, dipped a little like when Mochi wanted down so the bird-kid didn't have as far to go. The bird-kid slipped down to the ground—bounced back into Baymax's arms, chirping this time.

"See? See?" Fred asked, dancing around Baymax. "Baymax is _totally_ nice, isn't he?"

"Bhhh," the bird-kid noised, apparently trying to chew on Baymax now.

"Hey, no trying to eat the healthcare robot," Hiro chided. "Fred, the saferoom?"

"Oh yeahyeahyeah—come on, let's test the saferoom little buddy—it's inside," Fred told the bird-kid, backing up to the door and waving Baymax after him. "That's like, you know, _outside,_ but with walls and ceilings and stuff."

"Bttph," the bird-kid noised, looking around now that Baymax was moving—tried to push off, foot slipped, ended up deeper in Baymax's arms—Baymax stopped to blink at him, make sure he was all right before resuming his waddle for indoors.

"Now _this,"_ Fred said, gesturing broadly at the door before opening it. "Is called a _door_. It's so we can go from outside to inside. It opens like _so,"_ he added, swinging it open. "Okay _gently gently_ follow me follow the melodious sound of my voice—"

"Think you might be selling it a little thick, Fred," Hiro said, trailing behind and hoping the expression he gave Fred wasn't _too_ judging.

"Nope," Fred said, backing into the house and continuing to wave them in. "No such thing we're projecting calm happy thoughts that make calm happy bird-kids project good feelings Hiro—cool, calm, and collected, we are now _inside_ and this is _awesome_ totally cool new adventure yes breath it in this is called inside air."

The bird-kid's expression was judging too, nose crinkled as he did indeed sniff at the air—again, something about the face was familiar.

"Uh woah Hiro maybe nix on closing the door," Fred said, when Hiro moved to shut the door behind them; point at the bird-kid looking behind over Baymax's shoulder and squawking in dismay. "This might be one of those things we have to take slow. And little dude might feel better having an easy out."

That…made sense. "Remind me again why your mom said you couldn't have any pets?"

"I thought myself responsible at too young an age," Fred sighed. "A lot of pets went to farms when I was but a lad. Sure they're doing awesome though. And back to us doing awesome!" he said, bouncing up and down a little and doing his best to keep the bird-kid's attention focused. "Look at this! We're inside now isn't this great this is called a _wall_—_waaaaaall._ And _this_ is _art—_I think. I don't know I never got Gauguin."

Hiro looked at the smudgy landscape that he was pretty sure he could do himself, felt inclined to agree with Fred on that. Glance at the bird-kid—

"Um, art is more for looking at," Hiro said, pushing the bird-kid's questing hand up and away.

Baymax blinked at Hiro. _"Honey Lemon has said that art should be felt."_

"Um…that's more like…the internal thing, about how art improves one's mood? Fred help."

"Yes," Fred said, pointing at Hiro and apparently missing the part where the bird-kid was patting Hiro on the head. "We should check out the Kirby and Lee art that always gets me right here." Thump his chest. "But the saferoom is _this_ way and we're going to be going through the main hall and _that_ is a _ceiling_ and now it's _waaay_ up there see? Awesome, right?" he asked, arms outstretched as he twirled around on the parkay flooring. "And your voice can really echo in here check it out—_hello!"_

_"Indoor voice, Fredrick!"_

_"Right, Mom!"_

The bird-kid seemed intrigued, was looking around, chirping and tweeting. Looked up, spotted the chandelier—

Froze, twitched—

Hiro fell back at the sudden shriek rocking the great room, didn't even have time to register the bird-kid launching off of Baymax, straight up a beam in the wall—_straight across_ the beam in the ceiling before launching himself at the chandelier.

_"AAAH NO that's a bad idea!"_ Fred yelped, dancing in alarm. _"MINI-MAX! CHANDELIER SWING PROTOCOL!"_

Hiro didn't even have time to question that before Mini-Max dove into the room. _"FOR JUSTICE!"_

"Uh, this might count as agitating the kid!" Hiro said, watching Mini-Max run up to the second-floor balustrade before launching himself at the chandelier as well. "Baymax, catch him!"

Mini-Max landed on the wildly swinging chandelier, the bird-kid with one wing extended and flapping—

Saw Mini-Max, squawked and reeled back—_off_ the chandelier—

Hiro and Fred both ran forward, despite Hiro being at a loss as to what he could do—Baymax was already standing under there, arms outstretched—the bird-kid twisted in midair, folding his wing in before flaring it back out, limbs splayed—screeched in alarm when he went off-balance—

Hit Baymax hard and at an angle that sent everybody sprawling.

Hiro didn't know about the others, but he definitely needed to take a minute, was in no hurry to get up off the floor right now. "We're calling this enough for today, right?"

"Feels like it," Fred said, scrubbing the top of his head where he had bumped it on the wall.

_"And it's another victory for JUSTICE!"_ Mini-Max exclaimed, fist pumping.

_"FREDRICK FLAMARION FREDRICKSON THE FOURTH!"_ Fred's mom bellowed from the other room. _"**WHAT** ARE YOU DOING IN THERE WHAT DID YOU BREAK?"_

_"NOTHING!"_ Fred called back, propping himself up on his elbows—

Which was about the time the chandelier decided it had enough—snap free of its moorings, just enough time for Mini-Max to go _oh no_ before crashing to the floor.

_"…EXPENSIVE,"_ Fred added, wincing.

"So it occurs to me why your mom doesn't let pets in the house," Hiro said.

"Yeah," Fred said, sitting up. "In retrospect, my _born free_ attitude might not have jived well with crystal."

"Yeah," Hiro said, groaning as he sat up—the bird-kid was clinging tightly to Baymax, busy patting him and going _there there, it is all right_. "So I think this is enough fun for one day."

"Yeah," Fred said, helping Hiro up and then helping him haul Baymax upright. "Man, parenting stuff is hard—I've totally got newfound respect for my parents right now."

Hiro wasn't about to go _that_ far in regards to titling this mess that. "Let's just get him back outside." Started heading that way, glanced at Fred. "Chandelier Swing Protocol?"

"So mistakes _might_ have been made. And the warning label on the Okiru drinks aren't kidding about only two cans in twenty-four hours."

Hiro decided he wasn't going to ask.


	31. Getting on the Ball

**Chapter 31, everybody! In other news, we've broke 400 total pages and this makes me very happy. :D Although this chapter is somewhere on the 250-page mark, so…_still plenty to go around. _:D**

**Continuing blanket disclaimer: I still have not finished Season Two. We're flying blind, boys. Still keeping up with Season 3, though, and I…can't say I like it, since it sacrifices two seasons of development for the cheap joke. :\**

**Today we have Baymax quoting himself in one of my other fics, _Obake Itoko_—I need to finish that one, we've only got like a chapter left on it….Hiro has also read _Guardians of Ga'Hoole_ and you should too it's a good series. :D And as always, the gene cleansers are in reference to _The Spectacular Spider-Man._ Good show. Oh, and let's not forget Fred quoting _Monsters, Inc._****—love that quote. :D**

**In other news, hi, this me, looking up carbohydrates and pergolas to make sure I'm calling them the right things and being accurate. ^^;**

**From my reading on the Japanese language, _blue_ and _green_ use the same word, _Ao_, and _green_ didn't get its own word, _midori_, until recently. In other news, just because we haven't seen some of the cast's family doesn't mean they don't exist—I'm going to say Honey Lemon's family lives out of town though, to explain why she didn't move in with them during "Big Roommates 2." And yeah, one of my theories for Season 2 (or something I read on Tumblr, I forget which now) was that Karmi's viral expertise was to be used to make a mutating supervirus to turn people into monsters.**

**Also…hi, doctor here who had to read a metric ton of ethical requirements for my dissertation: any experimentation that could possibly negatively impact someone's life is a big no-no, genetic tampering requires enough paperwork to bury California, and genetic experiments like the bird-kids would have probably been euthanized if Sycorax even _pretended_ to care about ethics in experimentation…actually no, they wouldn't have existed in the first place. But Sycorax does not care about such things, because if they did we wouldn't have a fic. Or Season 2.**

**In other news, vegan food can have a lot of allergens too (some people have soy allergies), but Honey Lemon's been pretty diligent about checking everything out so no worries. :)**

**And again, a chunk of the middle was written before the rest of it…and Microsoft Word has randomly decided to recognize Sashi's name without putting the red squiggle under it. It's weird. :\**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! YES! We're on a roll! :D And all right! Fred's one of my favorite characters to write, not gonna lie. :D And eeee thank you, you make me blush! :D**

**SilverPhoenix, thanks for the review! Yes, Fred, that feels like an understatement. Yes, it's Tuesday! Time for more _Safe in Brother's Wings!_ :D Ah, thank you. XD Yes, they're doing their best, that's all we can ask. :D**

**Hexyah, thanks for the review! It is! I…haven't really been enjoying it so far, to be honest (the emphasis on comedy feels pretty jarring compared to the first two seasons, as does the departure from more grounded comedy/scientific basis). Fred, how did you call out one of our regular reviewers? *squints at Fred***

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

They finally managed to peel the bird-kid off of Baymax about an hour after they got back outside.

"Well, the good news is, he likes you finally, Baymax," Hiro said, easing the bird-kid down to the ground—and then grimacing when the bird-kid latched onto him instead.

_"Yes,"_ Baymax said, blinking. _"Although having that stem from a: traumatic experience, may not be healthy."_

"Eh, you saved his life, so," Hiro muttered, trying to get the kid to let go of him. "Hey we talked about the personal space."

"Okay," Fred said, coming back out of the house. "So we got the chandelier squared away and—aww."

_"This is not 'aww' Fred help me out here."_

"Oh right—my dude you did _great_ for your first time in a house can I get a victory hug? Don't leave me hangin' bro."

Hiro nudged the bird-kid at Fred. "Yes please go hug him for a minute I can't breathe."

Baymax blinked at him. _"You are still receiving the recommended amount of air in your lungs."_

_"It's an expression, Baymax."_

"And I can get the leftover dumplings I bet that adventure worked up an appetite huh?" Fred asked, doing finger guns—the bird-kid perked at that, started giving Fred more attention.

"Didn't he just eat though?" Hiro asked.

_"Multiple smaller meals are recommended, especially for someone who has been: underfed,"_ Baymax said, a finger up.

"See? Hang on little dude be right back," Fred said, scurrying back into the house.

The bird-kid did have some severe cheekbones for being so young. "Okay so Fred's getting you something you can stop clinging to me so tightly now I'm not going anywhere."

The bird-kid murmured something, hugging him tighter and rubbing his face against Hiro's shirt.

"Yeah no too much," Hiro said. "Baymax, _help."_

_"Some people derive comfort from physical contact,"_ Baymax offered. _"Perhaps returning the hug would be effective."_

Hiro hesitated, wrapped his arms around the bird-kid's shoulders as best he could, squeezed a little.

"Mrrh," the bird-kid noised, finally letting go and sitting down. Hiro hesitated, decided crouching put him on the bird-kid's level while still giving him a chance to escape before he was pinned again.

"So," Hiro said, tone conversational—that was a thing Tadashi did with little kids they met, always talked to them like an equal. "We've only known each other a day, but I'm pretty sure we know each other well enough for me to tell you, with all certainty, that you're a troublemaker. That's a problem, by the way, we should work on that."

"Beh," the bird-kid noised, looking around, half-flapping his good wing.

"I mean the cute act only gets you so far and then people start seeing through it—are you even listening to me?"

"'Dashi-Hiro," the bird-kid said, looking back at him.

"It's just Hiro," Hiro said—he could actually _hear_ all the mirth drop out of his voice at that, but this….

Sigh, decide he was going to risk settling down crosslegged, hands on his ankles and hopefully pinning the kid with his attention. "Now," he said. "How do you know Tadashi?"

"'Dashi!" the bird-kid chirped, glowing like all of Hiro's lost joy had transferred to him. "'Dashi yes good yes 'Dashi _yhhluff_ Dashi-Dashi-Dashi—" And a lot of other chirps and squawks and bird vocalizations that Hiro couldn't make head nor tail of.

"No that's—" Think, Hiro, use that big brain of yours. "How did you meet Tadashi?"

He was reminded of the old _Guardians of Ga'Hoole_ series he read a few years back when the bird-kid slimmed down to nothing, feathers pressed tight to his skin and ears flat and that was actually kind of weird when you stopped and thought about it it wasn't odd when you saw it on a bird but just _how_ did feathers _do that_.

"Bad," the bird-kid said, glancing around, hunching in on himself and mincing closer to Hiro. "Bad-bad-bad-no good-bad—"

"Okay, that makes no sense," Hiro announced. Think..."What if we did yes or no questions? Do you understand that?"

"'Dashi-Hiro," the bird-kid said, hooking a hand in his hoodie again.

"So maybe I have to explain this…it's like…." Grab a bit of his hoodie. "This is blue, yes?"

"Buuh," the bird-kid noised.

"This is blue—that's a _yes_ thing." Point at Baymax. "Baymax is white—that's a _yes_ thing." Grab his hoodie again. "This is green—that's a _no_ thing." Unless you were speaking classical Japanese where the word for blue and green were interchangeable, but he was honestly having a hard enough time getting the bird-kid to speak English.

"Greh," the bird-kid noised, tugging on Hiro's hoodie. "No. Buh-yes."

"Yeah, that's it! Okay," Hiro muttered, hesitating before digging his phone out. Deep breath…had to do it, had to get to the bottom of this…pull up a picture of Tadashi and show it to the bird-kid. "Is this 'Dashi?"

"Yes!" the bird-kid shrieked, looking like the rain had cleared and the sun had come out with rainbows and ice cream for good measure. Started tapping at the phone, eagerly chirping _Dashi-Dashi-Dashi—_

"Um no this isn't—this is a picture," Hiro said, pulling his phone back. "It's like…hold on." Pull up the camera function, aim it at the bird-kid and take a picture to show him. "See? It…like takes a moment and freezes it." And sometimes you looked back on those moments in pain.

The bird-kid chirped, seemed confused…tapped on the phone again, looking pondering now.

"Mrr," he noised finally. "Mrr-rrrr." Seemed to notice that part of Baymax was in the picture, turned to look at Baymax. "Wrr."

"Yeah," Hiro said. "It got a bit of Baymax too." Think, point at Baymax. "Baymax. Bay-max."

"Bhh-mhh."

"Bay-max."

"Bhh-mhh."

"Um, no—_max._ You make a hard noise."

"Bhh-_mah!"_

_"It can take many years to speak and comprehend English fluently,"_ Baymax said. _"As the bird-kid's mental age seems to be very young, we must be patient."_

Yay. "Okay, but back to this," Hiro said, pulling up Tadashi's picture again…debate, decide against—he needed the bird-kid focused. "You know Tadashi. Tadashi is 'Dashi."

"Yes," the bird-kid chirped, looking around again. "'Dashi yes 'Dashi—"

"Right focus," Hiro said, waving a hand for attention. Okay, maybe…deep breath. "Does…does Tadashi have…feathers?"

"Yes." Pat Hiro's leg, flip his tail around to show the feathers coating what amounted to a sheath of muscle. "Yes good yes you yes—" More whistling and chirping and things that didn't make sense—like any of this made sense Tadashi couldn't have feathers because Tadashi was _gone_.

_Deep breath,_ he reminded himself, pinching the bridge of his nose, eyes closed as he took deep breaths. _You're wanting to get to the bottom of this. You have to be patient, the bird-kid is a literal kid._

But he wasn't sure where to go from here, what he could frame as a yes or no question, and he could feel the bird-kid's attention drifting. Sigh, look—yes, the bird-kid was focusing on Baymax now, hands up and patting Baymax's vinyl stomach. "Bhh-mhh yes good yes _fwee_ yes—"

Baymax blinked at him, patted him on the head. _"There, there. Would you like: up?"_

"_Fwee_ yes up," the bird-kid chirped, arms up—well, at least he liked Baymax now.

Baymax scooped the bird-kid up, waddled sideways a bit to pat Hiro on the head. _"There, there. It is all right."_

"Yeah," Hiro sighed, getting up. "Just…weird."

"Hey my dudes, more dumplings!" Fred called, coming out with plate held high—and then quickly putting it down and scuttling away when the bird-kid launched himself at it. "Dude. Anyway, sorry for the delay, still going over the chandelier mess. Some pieces are missing, apparently. How are things going out here?"

"Things…went," Hiro decided to report, watching as the bird-kid finished up the dumplings, licked the plate clean, then his fingers—pulled something out of a fold of his sweater—

_"Hey,"_ Hiro said. "Fred, think we found one of those missing pieces."

"We did—oh hey little dude—_no wait come back here—"_

Too late, the bird-kid was back on the pergola, up high and flapping his one good wing and squawking, sounding mighty pleased with himself.

"That's not yours!" Hiro yelled up. The bird-kid squawked back down, tried chewing on the chandelier piece _"No get that out of your mouth BAYMAX!"_

The bird-kid simply scurried to a new section of the pergola when Baymax gave Hiro the requested boost—Fred tried to help corral him for a few minutes before deciding going inside for more food as a bribe would work better.

Hiro, meanwhile, was sitting on one end of the pergola and glaring at the bird-kid sitting on the other end, chittering at him.

"It's not funny," Hiro said sternly. "That's not yours, and you shouldn't try to eat it." The bird-kid rattled his teeth across the crystal. "Did you not hear me? That is _not. Food."_

"'Dashi," the bird-kid said. "'Dashi-Hiro yes."

"'Dashi-Hiro no. That's not food Baymax tell him."

_"That is a choking hazard,"_ Baymax agreed.

"Here!" Fred yelled, running back out and shaking a box of graham crackers. "Make trade!"

The bird-kid was off and tackling Fred so quickly that Hiro didn't even register him moving—get back down with Baymax's help, run over to pull the bird-kid off of Fred—_again_—

Come to the realization that he had no idea where the chandelier piece went.

"You didn't eat it, did you?" Hiro asked the bird-kid, now ripping into the box and the plastic within.

"Nuh," the bird-kid squawked, angling himself a little so he was between them and the box.

"Probably went flying like the ball did," Fred decided, sitting up. "And dude, too much with the flying tackle-press—I mean that'd be an awesome takedown move, but for good-guy hugs it's a bit much."

The bird-kid didn't respond—probably because he had a mouth full of crackers.

_"Please eat slowly,"_ Baymax said, waddling over. _"Eating too fast can result in: choking."_

"And we're probably going to need something to wash that down with," Fred decided, watching the bird-kid smack his mouth as the crackers soaked up all his saliva—and then tip his head, sniffing—

"Oh great, _now _what?" Hiro sighed, running after the bird-kid when he bolted.

"Super senses I bet!" Fred said, chasing after him. "Maybe he senses something!"

Apparently he sensed the koi pond, seemed very interested in the fish before focusing on the bamboo waterfall and—

"_NO we don't drink the koi water EW—"_

* * *

Hiro decided that he agreed with Fred, he was going to apologize to Aunt Cass when he got home because he had never fully comprehended just how much of a pain raising children was until this bird-kid.

"Please tell me the others are finding out more about the other bird-people," Hiro groaned, sprawled out on the couch with eyes closed. "Preferably so we can return this one." Groan further when he felt the bird-kid jump up on the couch, standing on his stomach before flopping down on him, purring—"No, no, get off of me—_get off you have fish-pond breath."_

"'Dashi-Hiro," the bird-kid warbled, snuggling in close—and then squawking when Hiro managed to squirm out from under him, despite having to bounce back up from falling on the floor.

Baymax blinked at him. _"On a scale from one to ten—"_

"Zero, Baymax."

The bird-kid huffed, maneuvered so his feet were on the back of the couch, hips wiggling—

"Oh no," Hiro said, dodging behind Baymax. "I've seen Mochi do that enough you are _not_ pouncing on me."

"Okay," Fred sighed, coming back out. "So on the quest to finding a drink that doesn't spill on little dude let us try a lid with a straw—_oof!"_

"Don't think that worked," Hiro said, watching the cup roll away, trickling water as it went.

"No," Fred agreed. "Dude, dial back the pouncing a little please. Nice jumps, gentle jumps."

The bird-kid flopped down on Fred, rolled off, bounding around him and shrieking before tackling Baymax and bouncing off.

"I thought we got over the _get Baymax_ thing," Hiro said. Watched as the bird-kid bounced up and tackled Baymax again before flopping against him a third time in a hug, purring again.

"Dude," Fred said, sitting up. "Didn't think we gave him any sugar."

Baymax blinked at them. _"Carbohydrates break down into sugar over time. The: graham crackers, would count."_

"Ah. Okay, so we know that for next time."

"'Dashi-Hiro!" the bird-kid chirped, letting go of Baymax to bound around Hiro, standing up to bat at Hiro's shoulder before flopping back—and being careful of his broken wing, Hiro noticed. Roll upright—"'Dashi-Hiro! 'Dashi-Hiro!"

"Think he wants you to play—oh man, where'd that ball go…."

"Not really into that—" Hiro started—fell back a step when the bird-kid mantled his good wing and hunkered down, little jumps back and forth in front of Hiro. "_No._ Bad bird-kid. No treat if you pounce on people."

"Hrr," the bird-kid growled—huffed when Hiro crossed his arms, went back to Baymax, jumping up and batting at him before running around to Fred and doing the same thing.

"Oh yeah?" Fred asked, aiming a few play-socks at the bird-kid that he made sure missed. The bird-kid shrieked, jumped back before bouncing back to Fred, standing upright with hands flailing, tail swishing, and good wing flapping. "Oooh, I'm gonna get ya, I'm gonna get ya," Fred said, bouncing around a little. "I'm gonna—_OOF little dude we talked about the tackling."_

"Okay, that's enough squashing Fred," Hiro said, tugging the bird-kid off of Fred again as Baymax examined him for injuries. The bird-kid went limp in his arms like Mochi would, warbling at him before squirming free. And then deciding to tackle him. _"Hey! Get off!"_

"'Dashi-Hiro," the bird-kid purred, flattening him to the ground in a hug. "'Dashi-Hiro yes good yes—"

"Baymax, _help."_

The bird-kid protested at Baymax pulling him off of Hiro, but at least he could scramble upright. The bird-kid wormed free, hugged Hiro before tackling Baymax and jumping up on him.

"No more graham crackers," Hiro decided.

"Or at least a better plan for when he gets the sugar rush," Fred said, dusting himself off. "Like…ooh! We could get the tennis ball launcher—we got a new one after Wasabi sliced the old one in half. Or like, just, _a_ tennis ball, we could start with that."

"Whatever gets him worn out," Hiro said, watching the bird-kid rub his head against Baymax's vinyl before slipping over his back to bound around again. "No jumping—_no."_

"Nuh," the bird-kid echoed, snuggling up close to him.

"And personal space—remember we talked about that?"

"Nuh."

"Pretty sure we did—like, an _extensive_ conversation."

"And tennis ball!" Fred announced, running back over with the ball in question held up. "I know it's not as impressive as the other ball, _but."_ Bounce it a few times—Hiro edged away a little from the bird-kid tracking the movement, recalling what happened the _last_ time he was in pursuit of a moving target. "See it? See it…_go get it!"_

The bird-kid bolted after the ball, chittering and squawking—Hiro chose a nearby chair to sag into.

Baymax blinked at him. _"You are tired."_

"Kids are exhausting," Hiro groaned. "Or at least bird-kids are I'm pretty sure _I_ wasn't this bad."

"But at least now we have a happy bird-kid," Fred pointed out, hunkering down when the bird-kid came back—with the tennis ball in his mouth. "Dude, impressive!"

"Mhh," the bird-kid noised, before pulling the ball out of his mouth. "Blhh. Mine."

"Are you sure? Because I'm pretty sure that's _my_ ball. I'm gonna get it, I'm gonna—oh wait hold on phone," Fred said, a finger up as he dug in his pockets. "Oh _hey!_ The rest of the team _finally!"_

_"Finally,"_ Hiro groaned. "Let him wear _them_ out."

"Mine!" the bird-kid insisted, rolling the ball back and forth. "Mine-mine-mine—"

"Hold on my dude just gotta let the others in be _right_ back, okay?" Fred asked, running around the house. "One minute, okay!"

"No!" the bird-kid squawked, flopping his wing to the side.

"Hey, chill," Hiro chided. "Fred'll be back."

_"Infants and young animals have difficulties with: object permanence, and separation,"_ Baymax offered. _"The: bird-kid, may not understand this."_

Oh great, please don't tell him the bird-kid's mind was _that_ young—if that was the case they'd never get anything out of him—

"Hey no," he said, batting away the ball the bird-kid was poking him with. Poke again—"No I don't want that it was in your _mouth."_ Crinkle his nose at the bird-kid. "Koi-breath."

The bird-kid screeched at that, like he sensed that was intended as a teasing insult—huffed, turned so he was facing away from Hiro, sat pointedly down and very obviously ignoring him in a way that he could _see_ himself being ignored.

"So you're ignoring me now?" Hiro confirmed, before settling down further in the chair. "Good, I finally get some me time again."

The bird-kid glanced at him a few times to make sure he was noticing being ignored—finally rounded on him and squawked irritably.

"So now you're done ignoring me? Five more minutes?"

Maybe the bird-kid figured Hiro wasn't bothered by the silent treatment, decided to go to Baymax and paw at him instead before poking him with the ball. Baymax blinked down at him, offered a hand. _"Would you like me to throw the: ball?"_

Whistle, chirp—"Yes," the bird-kid said finally, giving Baymax the ball. Baymax took it, blinked, looked at the garden before lifting his arm up, calculating force and angle and even wind speed before finally throwing the ball.

The bird-kid tore after it.

"So it occurs to me that you could do that until the bird-kid gets tired," Hiro observed.

_"Yes."_ Baymax looked at him. _"The: bird-kid, is much improved from this morning."_

"Yeah, I noticed." And if he wasn't mistaken looking back on that, his mood had improved _after_ he connected Hiro with Tadashi.

_But how did the bird-kid know him?_

Shake his head—he wasn't getting to the bottom of this tonight. Look at Baymax. "So you might have to stay here again to keep an eye on the bird-kid—I brought your charger though, so you _should_ be fine."

_"Unless engaging overdrive mode or other strenuous superhero activity, my batteries should remain charged for another twenty-two hours,"_ Baymax announced.

"That's good to know, but I'll feel better with you having the extra boost."

"Hiro!"

"_Guys,"_ Hiro greeted, sagging in relief before going over to them.

"So how was bird-sitting?" Gogo asked.

"What? _Pff,_ it was _fine_—wasn't it fine Fred?" Hiro asked.

"Oh yeah," Fred said, nodding. "Except for the part where he swung off the chandelier—that was like, a _teeny_ bit problematic."

"Yeah that doesn't sound fine," Wasabi said, looking around for the bird-kid.

"That was the highlight of the day," Hiro said. "So how did you guys do?"

"Fully disinfected and buffed out, thank you."

"I canvassed the warehouse area on my bike," Gogo said, depositing her bag in one of the chairs. "There was a lot of activity near a warehouse with Sycorax's logo on it."

"So we're right," Hiro said. "Sycorax is responsible for the bird-people."

"Let's go with most likely." Jerk her chin at Honey Lemon. "And then I come back to the apartment to find it buried in cooking supplies."

"Just a bit," Honey Lemon said, putting some boxes down on a nearby table. "I spent the trip to and from my one cousin's place reading up on birds—you know, just in case, so I didn't accidentally give him something that didn't agree with him."

"So far I think the only thing that doesn't agree with him is gravity," Hiro said.

"Very true," Fred agreed. "Little dude _loves_ pancakes."

"So," Wasabi said slowly. "We're okay? He's not…you know, totally feral?"

"Well…."

The bird-kid choosing that moment to tackle Hiro probably answered that question best.

"Dude we _talked_ about the flying hug-tackles," Fred said.

"'Dashi-Hiro," the bird-kid chirped, ignoring Hiro struggling back upright in favor of hugging him—

At least until he realized they had company.

"Woah no hold it," Hiro said, catching him by the tail when he tried to bolt—and getting dragged a bit for his trouble. "_Stay._ Chill."

"You have to stay for the intro at least," Fred said, ignoring the bird-kid's hissing and mantling. "Wasabi. Gogo. Honey Lemon. Fred, Hiro, Baymax. Together we are—dramatic pause—_Big Hero Six_, good-guys extraordinaire! Emphasis on the _good guys_ part, you're totally fine."

"Feh," the bird-kid huffed, twitching his tail out of Hiro's grasp before hiding behind him—and then Baymax when he waddled over.

_"On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?"_ Baymax asked.

Hiro rubbed at his chin and nose, which had been what got introduced to the deck first from that last tackle. "Maybe a two." Stand, fidget a bit—"So…maybe he's not as far along as we'd hoped, but…."

"But we found out we shouldn't be feeding little dude graham crackers," Fred said.

"You did better than _I_ thought you would, at least," Gogo said, before looking at Wasabi. "You going to get off the table soon?"

"I'll think about it," Wasabi said.

"Hi," Honey Lemon said, kneeling next to the bird-kid and waving slightly. "I'm Honey Lemon—what's your name?"

The bird-kid made a sort of _aark_ noise, which made Hiro feel better about not asking that question earlier.

"So he knows _some_ words," Hiro offered. "Baymax, how old did you say he was mentally?"

_"From behavior and cognitive evidence, the bird-kid is mentally: three to five years old,"_ Baymax said.

"Oh, I bet all this is scary then, isn't it?" Honey Lemon asked the bird-kid, whose feather-ears twitched as he leaned around Baymax a little more. "It's okay though, we'll take good care of you until we can get you back to mom and dad. Here," she added, pulling one of the boxes down and opening it. "Blueberry-banana muffins—I made them myself."

"Yeah, that's the fastest way to get him to like you," Hiro said, the bird-kid perking up at the sight of food. "Which makes you his new favorite—I feel kind of used."

"Sorry," Honey Lemon said, peeling the paper off before handing the muffin to the bird-kid—said muffin disappeared quickly once the first nibble happened. "Oh hello."

This because the bird-kid was now right next to her, chirping before looking back at the box.

"Let's do one more for now," she said, pulling another one out. "Slowly, okay?"

"He eats like he's been starved," Gogo observed.

_"The: bird-kid, shows signs of being underfed,"_ Baymax said.

"Yeah," Hiro said. "So maybe he was living in the woods before showing up in that warehouse."

"Not sure what Ned's feelings on that would be," Fred mused.

"Or why he was in the warehouse to begin with," Gogo said.

"We actually have a theory on that," Hiro offered.

"Uh," Wasabi noised, half-raising a hand as he got off the table. "Am I the only one who remembers that this is _not normal?"_

"No, we're all aware of it," Gogo said, gesturing to Honey Lemon—now petting the bird-kid because apparently that's what happened when you tried getting a better look at those ear tufts, the bird-kid translates it as petting. "This is apparently how some of us handle it."

"My problem at this point is mostly him behaving for you guys," Hiro said, arms crossed.

"Don't listen to him, you're fine," Honey Lemon told the bird-kid. "And I have something for you."

"Seriously?"

"It's why I visited my family—I brought some of the older stuff that my baby cousins grew out of," Honey Lemon said, pulling a blanket out of her purse. "Look at this! Doesn't this look soft?"

The bird-kid chirped at her as she laid it down in front of him, patted it, crouched down, sniffed it—rolled and rubbed against it, chirping and warbling.

"Aw, he's so cute," Honey Lemon said, hands clasped. "We should give him a name! Like Rodrigo, or Antonio, or Spencer."

"Honey Lemon, _no,"_ Gogo said sternly. "We are _not_ naming it—I know you, you name it, you get attached to it."

"_So put that thing back where it came from, or so help me!"_ Fred interjected, pointing—stopped when everyone stared at him. "So I'm going to stop there…."

"Would you?"

"He needs a name though," Honey Lemon insisted, waving a hand over the bird-kid's head to keep his attention while she pulled a toy out of her purse. "Something cute."

"And a superhero handle," Fred said, scurrying over. "Totes needs a superhero handle!"

"So if anyone was wondering what happens to the bird-kid, apparently Fred and Honey Lemon have decided to adopt," Gogo sighed.

"I'm still kind of wondering about the _how_ of the bird-kid happening," Wasabi put in. "I mean, kind of weird—the other Sycorax monsters were…you know, more _monstrous."_

"And not as smart," Hiro said. "I…get this, I'm not sure if the bird-kid _really_ did this, but…we think he might have hacked into Sycorax."

Hiro explained further, keeping one eye on the bird-kid playing with his new toy, rolling around on the blanket and accidentally rolling himself up in it.

"Aw, it's a bird-burrito!" Fred said.

"We could play peek-a-boo!" Honey Lemon suggested.

"YES—hey, where'd little dude go? Little dude…."

"Back to important topics," Gogo said.

"Aw come on, that's cute."

"Maybe it's like with Professor Knox?" Honey Lemon asked, touching a hand to her face in concern. "I mean, he was still quoting Shakespeare after he was turned into a monster."

"And High Voltage wasn't slowed down from the monsterfication," Wasabi pointed out. "Which, by the way, if you're right and she's got Karmi in there working on some sort of—of _supervirus_—"

"We should have never told him that theory," Gogo said.

"Focusing on the problem at hand," Hiro said, indicating the bird-kid. "So we have a non-lethal example of genetic tampering, in which he was either snatched off the streets or grown in a test tube—could we use him to take down Sycorax?"

Honey Lemon looked at the bird-kid, busy untangling himself, back to him. "What would happen to him if we did?"

Gogo looked at the bird-kid, up at Honey Lemon. "You got attached, didn't you?"

Honey Lemon nodded.

"Then using him to tackle Sycorax is out of the question," Gogo said. "I'm not a bio major, but I know genetic tampering with human beings is a _big_ no-no—they'd probably euthanize him under the argument of ethics."

"WOAH no nix nothing on killing little dude that's _off_ the table," Fred said quickly, jumping up and waving his hands, Honey Lemon with both hands to her mouth.

"Is that _seriously_ the only option?" Wasabi asked her, arms crossed tight and shoulders hunched from worry.

"Maybe not," Hiro said, thinking back to his computer earlier. "When the bird-kid hacked into the Sycorax system—it looked like an inventory for a warehouse, and there was one item listed as _missing presumed stolen_: gene cleansers."

They all looked at the bird-kid again, now untangled and hiding under the blanket. From his position, Hiro could see his eyes reflecting light, although the tips of one wing and his tail were poking out.

"Would that even work?" Wasabi asked, looking back at Hiro.

Hiro shrugged. "I'm not a bio major either—but maybe."

"Definitely," Fred said. "It was on _Spectacular Spider-Man_, definitely a thing."

"FRED!" Gogo barked. "We talked about the comics."

"Except when it _works_, so—"

"So let's say that the gene cleansers work," Hiro cut in. "They were stolen, though."

"Maybe by those other things flying around?" Wasabi asked. "There was definitely more than one and I am _not_ ready for an aerial battle you know how I am about the heights."

_"There were: three other individuals with similar body types last night,"_ Baymax volunteered.

It took a beat to sink in—Hiro was grinning when he looked back at Baymax.

"I should have guessed that you scanned everybody," Hiro said. "So you think you could find them?"

_"I could,"_ Baymax said—looked around—back at him. _"My scanners are at a: reduced capacity outside my armor."_

"We'll get to that," Hiro assured him, considering. "But if the gene cleansers work…they'd be people on the street and we'd never know."

_"I will know."_

"All right, if you say so." Glance at the bird-kid, shuffling closer under the blanket. "You know I can see you, right?"

"Shh, Hiro!" Fred scolded. "You don't out him like that! You're supposed to play it right—you know, go _oh man I wonder where he is, obviously not under the blanket—_stuff like that."

"I vote we go out looking and leave Fred here as babysitter," Gogo said.

"What happened to _we really shouldn't leave Fred in charge of living things?"_ Wasabi asked. "Because I'm pretty sure that was a thing on the way over."

"Dudes," Fred sniffed.

The bird kid shuffled closer—Hiro waited until he was nearly in pouncing range before hopping up on a chair, just in time for the bird-kid to lunge with a _raar_ and flop down on nothing, blanket half-off him.

"Ha-ha," Hiro teased, settling into the chair.

The bird-kid hissed, darted back under the blanket, started trying to sneak up on Gogo—she sidestepped without a problem. "So we find these bird-people, find the gene-cleansers, _use_ them since the alternative is death—and then we have nothing against Sycorax."

Hiro blew an aggravated sigh—yes, that was a problem.

"What about testimonials?" Wasabi asked. "Maybe they'd be motivated to testify against—_holyNO—"_

The bird-kid hissed at Wasabi, now up on the table again, dodged under the blanket again and started sneaking up on Baymax.

"The gene cleansers would get rid of any physical evidence," Gogo pointed out. "There'd be nothing to testify with."

"So either way, we can't get them," Hiro sighed. "Now what?"

They watched the bird-kid jump out and tackle Baymax—bounced off his belly and flat on his back, flailing and squawking a little before scrambling upright and hissing at Baymax.

"We use the gene cleansers," Honey Lemon said, looking at the rest of them as the bird-kid scurried under the blanket again. "We do the right thing, even if it's only for the ones right in front of us—it might leave Sycorax open to do more down the line, but we can't accept someone's deaths in exchange."

"I agree," Fred said, nodding, keeping an eye on the blanket steadily sneaking up on him. "We're not that kind of supers."

No, they weren't—it was just frustrating, knowing that they were this close to taking down Sycorax…but Honey Lemon was right, sacrificing someone's life wasn't worth taking Sycorax down.

"So just so we're clear," Wasabi said, climbing back down off the table. "We're going after the _flying_ people who currently have the gene cleansers." When Hiro nodded: "And who have probably _used_ said gene cleansers."

"Baymax said he can find them," Hiro insisted, before gesturing at the blanket. "And right now we only need _one_ gene cleanser."

"Sounds good—_OH NO I'm down!"_ Fred squawked when the bird-kid jumped on him, squealing with delight when he connected and Fred went down. _"Fred is down! FRED IS DOWN!"_

_"I am: unsure of the effects of using: gene cleansers, on the bird-kid at the moment,"_ Baymax put in. _"The: broken bone, might cause complications."_

"Even though he wouldn't have wings then?" Hiro questioned.

_"Again, I am unsure."_

Hiro made a pensive noise, looked at the bird-kid busy sitting on Fred and squawking loudly. "See the trouble you cause?"

"Don't listen to him, you're adorable," Honey Lemon told the bird-kid.

"Listen to me. I'm adorable, and I still cause trouble."

"So you finally admit to it," Gogo said.

"I hear that admitting is the first step to recovery. Although I'm pretty sure most of the trouble isn't _exactly_ my fault."

The bird-kid chirped at him and bounded over, allowing Hiro the opportunity to ignore everyone giving him expressions that could only be sarcasm-laden _RIGHT_s—had to tuck up his legs against his chest when the bird-kid tried to crawl up—crawled up into the chair, undaunted.

"'Dashi-Hiro," the bird-kid said, in between whistles and chirps. "'Dashi-Hiro yes yes 'Dashi-Hiro—"

"Aww," Honey Lemon noised, hands clasped.

This was not _aww_—Hiro tried getting out of the chair, ended up with the bird-kid flopped in his lap. "Come on, _get off_."

"'Dashi-Hiro," the bird-kid said, ignoring Hiro's attempts to try and budge him.

"No, you're not sleeping on me the last time you did I was stuck for like ten hours."

"Actually it was more like two," Fred said, before leaning over to stage-whisper to Honey Lemon _"I got pictures."_

_"Aww,"_ Honey Lemon noised, looking at Fred's phone.

"This is not _aww,_" Hiro protested. "Go sleep on Fred."

"'Dashi-Hiro," the bird-kid muttered, snuggling down tighter.

"But you two are cute together, Hiro," Honey Lemon said.

"Yeah well, cute is kind of squishing me," Hiro said, trying to squirm his way out of this mess. Gogo finally took pity on him and hauled the bird-kid off of him.

"So he knows one word at least," Gogo said, seeming about as surprised as Hiro was at the sheer muscle on the bird-kid. "'Dashi-Hiro'?"

"Yes," the bird-kid chirped, looking up at her. "'Dashi-Hiro yes yes 'Dashi want 'Dashi."

"Sit," Gogo told him, depositing him on the deck. "Ask Honey Lemon for another muffin if you're hungry."

"Yes," the bird-kid repeated, tooling over to Honey Lemon.

"I've also got puff pastries with vegan filling," Honey Lemon offered. "I tried to avoid anything you could be allergic to."

_"The: bird-kid, does not have any food allergies,"_ Baymax said. _"He does have a minor allergy to: penicillin."_

"Oh that's good to know," Honey Lemon said, before looking back at the bird-kid—puff pastry was gone. "Do you want another one?"

"Yes," the bird-kid said.

"And he's calling you _fish-sauce_ because?" Gogo asked, looking at Hiro.

Hiro sighed at that—this was the part he wasn't looking forward to. "He's not calling me _fish sauce_, he's…well…I showed him a picture of Tadashi and he _recognized_ him."

Fred had been subdued when it became clear this topic was coming, the rest of the group went dead silent at this information.

Except for the bird-kid, whose attention immediately snapped back to Hiro. "'Dashi?"

"But," Honey Lemon said slowly, softly, wringing her hands. "Tadashi is…."

"Yeah," Hiro said, watching the bird-kid look to Honey Lemon hopefully. "I know."

"But _how_ would _this kid_ know him?" Gogo asked, expression saying she didn't like this topic either but knowing it had to be addressed.

"I have a theory," Fred declared.

"You're not going to like it," Hiro told her.

"It's clones."

"I don't like it," Gogo said flatly.

"Do I at least get a chance to explain it?"

"No."

"Okay," Wasabi said, steepling his fingers. "Let's just…okay. So the kid's like, mentally five. At most. Except there was no time Tadashi would have been able to go off doing…whatever this is. We're sure about this, by the way, the kid knowing him."

In response, Hiro pulled up a picture of Tadashi again, showed it to them, showed it to the bird-kid, who immediately started squawking _Dashi-Dashi-Dashi_ and trying to grab the phone.

"Okay, so I really don't have any explanation for this," Wasabi said.

"I don't either," Hiro sighed, scowling at the phone—and trying to keep the bird-kid away from it. "Remember we talked about how pictures worked?"

The bird-kid sagged upon seeing the blank phone—blinked when it started buzzing.

"What? What is it?" Honey Lemon asked as Hiro checked the alert on the phone.

Something that would definitely put the current conversation on hold.

"Momakase."


	32. Fast Girls and Sharp Objects

**Chapter 32, everybody! And I think in my writing up on this I might be getting close to having it entirely written out…might bump it up to posting twice a week once that happens but in the meantime know that we have updates clean into the new year. :D**

**Continuing blanket disclaimer: I still have not finished Season Two. We're flying blind, boys. Still keeping up with Season 3, though, and…okay this episode (or pair of episodes, since it's two stories) actually felt like an episode of the show.**

**Again, a chunk of this was written before the rest of the chapter because for a while I was just writing the scenes I knew for sure and tying them all together—this one chunk I was talking about though was written before a good chunk of the preceding chapters too, however. Fun times. :D**

**Bird-tending time: some bird owners will clip their birds' wings to keep them from being able to fly away. Usually this involves cutting the feathers on one wing, since they need equal or close-to-equal surface area on both wings in order to fly properly (one wing clipped usually ends with them going in a circle). Before you ask, unless the scissors hit a feather that's still growing in and therefore a blood feather, this doesn't hurt the bird—feathers are made of keratin, same as human hair and nails, and therefore doesn't hurt the bird unless it tugs on the base—kind of like trimming your nails. Most bird owners—like ourselves—usually don't engage in this practice, as a fully flighted bird is healthier and prettier, but if there's a chance the bird flying could hurt itself or get lost, yes that's usually the best option. 'Kase disagrees.**

**And yes, even with both wings trimmed a loss of flight feathers makes the act of flying difficult since part of it is reliant on surface area. Also, bird screeches right in your face leave your ears fuzzy and probably contribute to hearing loss—sorry, Hiro. ^^ And theoretically, birds can't see glass, it's why people are encouraged to put little stickers on their windows so the birds know it's not a clear spot. And legit the only part of _Storks_ I liked was the bit with the wolves and that's like a ten-minute video on YouTube. :\**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! EEEEE THANK YOU! :D Yes she is you totally called it _her meeting Mei will be SO CUTE._ :D AAAAH thank you, thank you—and real talk, your want there made me evil-laugh so hard that my Mom heard it in the other room. _Yep, very cool, to the point that that was literally written ahead of most of the preceding chapters._ XD**

**SilverPhoenix, thanks for the review! IT IS! :D _All the Cuties. _\\.o./ Yes they're trying their best. And Nox can _almost_ say _Baymax_, so good things. :D Yes…and yes! And yeah I didn't much care for all that reading I had to do for my dissertation but it gives me a new appreciation for things. No, no euthanizing any of the bird-babies they're too precious for this world. D:**

**Hexyah, thanks for the review! Me toooo augh the suspense it hurt enough _writing_ it. D:**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

'Kase was as grateful as Tadashi was when the sun finally set, although it wasn't _entirely_ for the same reasons. Let's be real here, Tadashi had been driving her crazy all afternoon.

But now that it was night and they were back in the air, they had a plan.

"We check the little island first," she said. "I want to see your face when he's sitting there waiting for you."

Tadashi didn't say anything—didn't _need_ to say anything. Tadashi probably had the same running mantra she did heading skywards: _be there be there be there PLEASE let him be there—_

Nox was not there.

_"NOX!"_ Tadashi bellowed, hands cupped around his mouth. _"NOX! COME HERE NOX!"_

"He's not here," she said, pacing around a little, breathing in deep and trying to parse out the bay smells.

"Maybe he went back to the others," Tadashi said, sounding hopeful and doubtful in a brittle way.

She didn't buy it, and she knew he didn't either. "Nox would be wanting to get back to _you._ If he's not here…if he came here and you weren't here…." The sensible thing would be to go back to the others, yes. But the way the bird-kids were, and their sense of permanence…Nox would try going back to where he last saw Tadashi.

She could see that Tadashi had come to this conclusion too. "We try the warehouses first," he said, throat tight.

She nodded, launching into the air, Tadashi shortly behind and then in front—huh. So apparently all he needed to get into the air the first try was to be deathly worried about someone. Probably not healthy.

"We'll look until sunrise and then we try the camp," she suggested. "Who knows? Grump might have bumped into him and insisted."

Tadashi made a noncommittal noise, scanned the skies as they neared the warehouses, both of them canvassing the buildings from above—

Wait.

"Tadashi," she said, angling down to where a skylight was broken—

Like someone had fallen through.

Examine the glass, peer through—drop down inside, looking around, deep breaths—

Saw something soft and light against the wall.

_Don't be what I think you are don't—_

Down.

Down and some small feathers that could have been from a crow don't read into it don't read into the fear-stench or the claw marks on the floor that were way too big to be a crow but just right for a bird-kid don't read into the fact that the one claw pattern had five scratches—

_No._

"'Kase?" Tadashi called.

Deep breath, go back to the skylight, look up at him. "I think—" Swallow. "I think Nox was here."

Watch as he took in the skylight, could see his mind immediately making the leap to worst-case scenario. "Please tell me it's not…."

"I don't know," she said, bracing herself—launch up, flap a few times to land on the roof, twitching her wingtips where she felt the glass brush against them. "There's signs of a struggle, but…no blood." Look around. "He might have gotten away."

Tadashi looked ill—she nudged him. "Come on, positive thoughts," she said. "As far as we know he's still alive."

"And terrified, and in a city he knows nothing about," Tadashi added.

"You really don't know how to do this _think positive_ thing, do you?"

Tadashi was full-on fretful-older-brother now though, pacing and gnawing at his claws, wings fluffing as he brainstormed—she wrung her hands, crossed her arms, went back to wringing her hands as she tried to reason through this herself—okay, don't panic for like three seconds; there was signs of a struggle, but not of injury. That meant there was a good chance he had gotten away.

But to where?

"Okay," she said finally, waving her hands to get his attention. "Let's actually try the _thinking positive_ thing for like two minutes. He's not at the island, he was scared away from here—could he have gone back to the others?"

Tadashi paced the whole roof, tail thrashing. "I don't know—there's something about those woods the kids don't like."

"The fact that suddenly we all forgot where north was?"

He buried his face in his hands, muttering to himself.

"It would be really, _really_ nice if he went back to the others," he said finally, at a level she could hear.

"Well process of elimination says he wouldn't be in the warehouse district or near the bay," she said, gesturing towards the water. "He did _not_ like that over there."

"I wonder why."

He had said it absently, but 'Kase looked over, feeling a few shreds of foreign memories niggling at her.

"Something happened," she said. "Don't quite get all what though." Look to see Tadashi giving her an odd look. "Excuse me for that being part of what got swiss-cheesed."

He shook his head, looked away—

"We can try swinging around and over the city on our way back," he suggested. "And hope that he's there."

"I'm sure he is," she said, launching into the air after him. Yup, apparently what he needed was to be motivated. "Probably you're giving yourself gray hairs over nothing."

"I hope so," he said. "Because if we go back and he's _not_ there…one bird-kid loose and missing is bad enough, _everyone's_ going to be out and looking."

That was true, unfortunately, and would attract more attention than it was worth. "So…you go right, I go left?"

"Maybe splitting up is a bad idea."

"Or it's a good idea, and we meet back up at that little island. We can cover more ground."

She drifted off as Tadashi frowned, figuring she might as well go for it because they could spend all night debating—dipped down to better scan the roofs and streets with the realization that looking for a black-feathered bird-boy in a huge city at night was _needle in a haystack_-levels of insane.

"Ugh you'd better be with the others," she muttered. _"Nox!"_ Heard Tadashi echoing the call not too far behind her—nope, his annoying _worry about everybody_ routine meant he wasn't wanting to let her out of sight either. Sigh, scan the roofs again—

Twitch when she spotted something leaping between buildings.

"What? What is it?" Tadashi asked as she dove.

"I don't know yet—stay up there!" she called, swooping down low, scanning the area. "Nox! Here, Nox!"

Nothing. Circle around again, something telling her that _here_ was important—light down on a roof, glancing around, carefully scanning….

A piece of information clicked into place just then, that this was a part of the city where a lot of high-dollar stores were—someplace where she—

Something hit her hard in the back, sending her skidding, tumbling, rolling upright, feathers bristling as her assailant touched down lightly a good lunge away—

'Kase froze when she realized she recognized the person in front of her—told herself to not be stupid enough to think she was looking in a mirror.

Because she had _never_ looked like that, it was the memories belonging to the person across from her that made her think that way.

"And what are _you_ supposed to be?" the real Momakase asked, brandishing a graphene sword.

"Oh honey, ask a simple question why don't you," 'Kase said, before bolting. Jump—flap—

_Slice_—

She screamed as her flight suddenly became erratic, was vaguely aware of Tadashi yelling as she arced down and landed hard on the next roof, rolling—took a moment to suck in a breath, roll to her stomach, push up—

One wing felt off, felt off-balance, look—

The tips had been sliced off.

"Oh boy," she muttered, pushing off, flapping hard, trying to get airborne before her original came pursuing—

"'Kase!"

Oh no—"NO!" she barked. "You stay up there!" Two downed bird-people would _not_ be better than one—

Her original landed on the roof, smirking at the sight of her basically flailing in a circle—uneven wings meant she couldn't fly right—

A remarkably stupid idea occurred to her just then—a remarkably stupid idea that would require perfect timing—

But her original wasn't the only one who hit fast and hard.

"I've been hearing rumors about monsters in the streets," her original said, straightening up and twirling the graphene blade absently. "Gotta say, I thought they'd be more impressive to go up against."

'Kase couldn't help the snort, already bracing herself. "If you only _knew_ the depths of the backhanded insult you just gave yourself."

Her original arched an eyebrow—

'Kase was already moving, anticipating her original shooting forward, blade ready—spun—

Sliced the tips of her good wing off—

And slammed a blistering backhand right into her original's face, knocking her clean off her feet.

"Oh, that's gotta hurt, doesn't it?" she asked. "Maybe you should keep your day job—oh wait, you got schooled in it by some dinky café owner. Oh well, such is life."

Spin, run, throw herself off the building—

It was hard, she was missing a good length of feathers off of both wings, but they were even now—she could fly in a relatively straight line, even though most of her grace and agility was gone and she had to flap harder and more frequently, but she could get the job done. Risk a glance over her shoulder—

"Are you okay!?" Tadashi squawked, swooping down on her. "Are you hurt you could have gotten yourself _killed!"_

"I'll be fine," she assured him. "Except can we carry this conversation on _after_ we've landed somewhere safe? This isn't exactly easy flying."

"Sure, sure," he said, looking around frantically—she wanted to curse at herself under her breath; they really only had today to search, before everyone moved out into a spot where they could easily be spotted. And now here she was, slowing them down to a snail's pace.

This was not going well at all.

* * *

Tadashi was all over 'Kase when they finally landed.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," she spat, as he tugged first one arm out and then the other, checking the feathers. "She only got feathers, they'll be a moot point anyway, right? Because you're going to be oh-so-fancy and helpful and fix everything despite the cloning bit?"

"Yeah," Tadashi breathed, rubbing his face—he hadn't let go of her hand yet, and she didn't fully feel the need to pull it back. "Just—who _was_ that?"

"Eh…someone you've kind of met before."

"Pretty sure I'd remember someone like _that_," he muttered, gently tugging on some of her sliced feathers to examine the ends.

"Well sure, you've just never seen a version of her without the beak."

He looked up at her sharply. "You don't mean—"

"Yeah—you just met the original Momakase."

He suddenly looked winded, mouth gaping and eyes darting, searching for something to say to that—

"Hey, it wasn't like it was a surprise," she said, trying to brush it off.

"I'm—"

"If you say _I'm sorry_ I'm having her turn you into julienne fries."

"Well what am I _supposed_ to say to that? It's not like there's a Hallmark card for it!"

"Hmm, _sorry your original tried to kill you_—yes, not exactly a best-seller. But look—we knew that I'm a clone, we knew that my original is here in San Fransokyo, and we knew that she's a thief. It was just bad luck we ran into her."

Tadashi blew an aggravated sigh, rubbed at the back of his neck after finally letting go of her hand—she tugged it back, crossed her arms over her chest, waited for him to finally look at her.

"Sorry," he said, before holding up his free hand. "I know, I know, don't be, it's just—she was _really_ ready to kill you, you saw that right?"

"Oh no, hon, see, the way I and my original express affection is through stabbing—_yes I noticed you ninny."_

"You know, at this point the stabbing wouldn't surprise me."

"I'm sure," she huffed, waving him off—and then having to look at her wing feathers again when the movement felt off.

"How bad is it?" he asked, scratching at his neck.

"I can still fly," she assured him. "It just feels off—and slower. I guess I might have lost a lot of lift."

"It's okay—we'll work around it somehow—and hey, only have to worry about it for another day or two, huh?"

"Right," she said, nodding; look out over the city. "Well…I suppose maybe I'll have to pass up on staying here—running into myself would just be…well, awkward. And, obviously, a little lethal."

"Hey, you and her are two entirely different people," Tadashi told her, with enough fire in it that she thought he might actually believe it. "You said so yourself—you two probably will run in _wildly_ different circles."

"It is a pity though—I was looking forward to playing with sushi."

"I'm sure my aunt Cass would love the extra help."

'Kase got ready to answer—felt her face scrunch up as the name tickled a recollection that wasn't hers. "Cass, you said?"

"Yeah—you two would get along, being culinary artists and all. How good are you at making cutesy dishes?"

"Like cutsey animal dishes?"

"Yeah."

She started snickering. "I uh, don't think your aunt will go for that."

"No, she loves those—"

"Uh, no—I don't think she'll go for _me,_ because I'm almost certain that she whipped my original in a cooking contest once."

Tadashi blinked. "Uh, what?"

"It wasn't that long ago, I don't think—after that Big Hero Six started running around, so you were probably already on your way to getting birdified."

"Yay, thank you, Sycorax," Tadashi noised unenthusiastically, mock-pumping a fist in the air. "Thank you, for making me miss my aunt owning in a cooking contest. Which one was it?"

"An underground one—winner gets the loser's knives. Which means she has a set of graphene blades, come to think of it…."

"Uh, what?"

"Actually, now that I'm thinking of it—she caused quite a stir, coming in and making cutesy food and winning routinely without cheating. Very impressive."

Tadashi looked like he was having a hard time processing this—or maybe he had hit a critical malfunction and had to shut down. _ has stopped working, press any key to continue._

"Hello?" she asked. "Are you still there?"

"My aunt beat a sushi chef who moonlights as a sword-wielding thief in an underground cooking contest and now has a set of knives made of the sharpest material known to man," he said finally. "I can't even think of _one part_ of that sentence that isn't completely mind-boggling."

"It makes a good conversation piece?"

"A good conversation piece _what_ has everyone been _doing_ while I was gone?"

"I wouldn't know," she said, teasing—

Froze as he did at the sound of something rocket-powered. Scan the skies—

"There," he said, pointing. "That Big Hero group."

"Big Hero Six," she said, watching Big Red circle around—was it Big Red or Red Panda? She didn't recall. "I'm thinking we should make ourselves scarce."

"I don't know, if they're supposed to be good guys…."

She watched him, obviously trying to parse through everything he knew, weighing the pros and cons of trying the superhero group that she was pretty sure wouldn't be thrilled to see _her_, at least—seemed to finally recall that yes, they _did_ attack them last night, and she wasn't sure how they'd take her after she took Green-Boy for a ride.

"We should go," he decided finally. "How well can you fly right now?"

She gave her wings a couple of experimental flaps. "I wouldn't be able to outrun Big Red there."

He hesitated, hedged—looked around, pointed. "We'll duck in there for now."

She nodded, dove after him, had to flap hard to recover—didn't care for the little tunnel they ducked into, that bird-corner of her mind screaming that this was not _sky_ was not _high SKY was safe_ and she was having to yell at it because flying was going to be an effort for a good long while—

This was _not_ going to plan so far.

* * *

Actually, it was Big Hero _Five_ that ended up going out—Hiro had to stay behind with the bird-kid. Not by choice.

"We are going to be _right back,"_ Honey Lemon was assuring the bird-kid over another muffin. "We just, um, have to go stop a bad person from doing bad things."

"It's called being _superheroes,"_ Fred declared, posing behind her. "It's _totally awesome_ and we do good things and someday when you're older and further along the ten-step program you can _totally_ tag along!"

_"FRED,"_ Gogo barked.

"And, you know, watch from the sidelines….I've got participation at around step seven, don't worry," he added in an aside to the bird-kid.

"Fweh," the bird-kid noised—and then leaped back, hissing with his back arched as their Skymax units arrived.

"OKAY so we're going to have to work up to these," Hiro said, ushering the bird-kid away from the Skymaxes. "No it's okay it's fine _stop hissing please—"_

The bird-kid hissed again and ducked behind Hiro.

"Will you—you know what, nevermind," Hiro muttered, going to his own Skymax and opening it—

"No," the bird-kid said, tugging on the back of his hoodie.

"Uh, yes, see it's—here," he said, grabbing the tennis ball. "Look at this, see this? Go get it."

The bird-kid watched it go sailing away, looked back at him.

"Help," Hiro said, looking at the others.

"Wait, what _are_ we going to do about him?" Honey Lemon asked. "I don't know if we can leave him by himself."

"It's not like he could fly out," Gogo pointed out.

"But what if he gets hurt? One of us should stay behind."

"Uh," Wasabi noised. "Anything less than six of us versus Momakase _rarely_ ends well. _Six of us_ versus Momakase rarely ends well."

"Ooh, we could take little dude along!" Fred exclaimed, dancing in place and already in costume. "What do you say, little dude?"

_"Fred,"_ came from at least three different sources.

"We are not taking a _kid_ to fight a _supervillain_," Gogo said, pointing at the bird-kid hiding behind Hiro and hissing at Fred. Ah right, he hadn't seen the costume—wait, did he see it last night? Maybe but apparently bird-kids had problems with _object permanence,_ thank you Baymax. "We'll just draw straws—whoever gets the short straw has to stay."

_"I can assign a number to each member and pick one via random generator,"_ Baymax volunteered.

"Do it."

Baymax did so, looked down at his chest flashing pictures of everyone—

Ended up landing on Wasabi.

"Oh _come on!"_ Wasabi moaned. "I thought we established I'm no good with bird-people _I'd rather take the scary knife-lady."_

"Better you than me," Hiro said, squirming free of the bird-kid and grabbing his helmet. "Pro tip: don't give him any sugar, it doesn't end well."

"No," the bird-kid insisted, still tugging on Hiro's jacket—and then looking confused for a moment when Hiro shucked it, leaving him holding the article of clothing. "No-no-no-no—"

"Hey no—go with Wasabi, Wasabi's the one on bird-duty right now, okay?"

"No-no-no-no-no—"

"Here," Gogo said, dragging the bird-kid over to Wasabi. "You two play nice."

"No," the bird-kid noised, immediately bounding back to Hiro.

"I'm not sure whether to be relieved or insulted," Wasabi said.

"Hiro, maybe _you_ should stay," Honey Lemon suggested.

"No—wait—like two minutes, okay?" Hiro asked, trying to peel the bird-kid off again—got treated to a loud _NO_ right at ground zero. "_Do you mind!?"_

"Hold on—what if—aha!" Fred exclaimed, sticking a hand out of his costume's mouth and waving a pack of crackers around. "Little dude, snackage!"

That _did_ get the bird-kid distracted—he ran after the pack of crackers Fred tossed, Hiro grabbed his shoes and gloves—

"Okay everyone _run_ good luck Wasabi," Hiro yipped, already running after Honey Lemon through the French doors.

"Still not liking this _I want to renegotiate,"_ Wasabi called after them—"Oh wait hold up _ohgeezno STOP—"_

Hiro glanced back—

Just as the bird-kid rammed through one of the French doors in his pursuit of Hiro.

* * *

"So good news, Wasabi gets to renegotiate," Gogo announced, once the bird-kid had finally stopped crying.

"_Oh thank you,"_ Wasabi breathed, hands clasped. "Ah, not to question it, but why—"

"Because it's pretty obvious the bird-kid doesn't want Hiro to leave," Gogo pointed out. "Hiro, you're staying here."

Hiro couldn't help the dumbfounded look he gave her. _"Seriously?"_

"Seriously. The bird-kid dove through a French door after you—right now it's just more prudent for you to stay here."

"Yeah, but—what about Baymax?" he asked. "Last time—"

_Last time I wasn't there and Baymax couldn't fight back—last time I wasn't there and he—_

_"You have adjusted my programming so that incidents such as the one at: Krei Tech, will not occur a second time,"_ Baymax pointed out.

"And one of us can ride on him," Honey Lemon added. "I'm sorry, Hiro, I'm with Gogo on this."

"Okay," Fred announced, stepping through the French doors. "So I am about one crystal vase away from a repeat of the Great Grounding of Eighth Grade—no offense, Hiro, _but_—"

"We've already told him," Gogo said.

Hiro huffed—sighed, looking skyward. "Fine, _fine_—but only because we've wasted enough time as-is. Give Momakase a thumping for me, will you?"

"We'll try," Gogo assured him, the rest of the team nodding.

Hiro couldn't help the dirty look he shot the bird-kid once they left.

"If they all get totally trounced and I have to go rescue them, I'm blaming you," he told the bird-kid—had to tug his wrist when the bird-kid tried to eat the lollipop _and_ the stick. "No, you don't eat the stick part. It's bad enough I had to teach you about plastic wrappers."

"Dashi-Hiro," the bird-kid noised, hugging him and purring.

"I told you—it's just Hiro." Extricate himself, look the bird-kid over, now with a fresh addition of several new bandages and a dusting of band-aids. "What were you even thinking, diving through the door like that? What is this, the whole _birds can't see glass_ thing from that _Storks_ movie? It was lame, by the way, don't watch it."

"Beh," the bird-kid noised, crunching on the lollipop. Hiro sighed, sat down on the couch—huffed when the bird-kid climbed up and flopped against him, still purring.

"So I'm not allowed to leave _why?"_ Hiro asked.

"'Dashi," the bird-kid chirped, gnawing on the now bare lollipop stick until Hiro took it away.

"That part isn't food," Hiro said, stuffing it in his pocket, having to stick his other arm out to hold the bird-kid off. "And what about…about 'Dashi?"

"'Dashi," the bird-kid repeated, giving up on trying to snatch the stick back to pat him, feeling like he was trying for commiserating. "'Dashi 'Dashi _fwee_ 'Dashi _hrr _'Dashi-Hiro—"

"No," Hiro told him, trying to keep the emotion down—almost a year, and the loss of his brother still hurt badly. How was he supposed to heal when this kid kept clawing it all back open? "No 'Dashi, he's…he's gone."

The bird-kid's ears flopped back, expression…kind of sad, bordering on pitying—like _he_ was being the dense one. Dug in a fold of sweater—

_"H__ey,"_ Hiro said, taking the piece of chandelier back. "I was wondering what happened to that—I thought you ate it." It had been an honest worry, he thought.

The bird-kid seemed to be waiting for something…decided he wasn't going to get it after a few moments, expression now soaking with confusion. Curled up against him, snuggling close to his side.

"Want 'Dashi."

Hiro grit his teeth, grip tightening on the chandelier piece. "H-he's…he's gone, okay? H-he's not…." He couldn't take it—slip off the couch, away from the bird-kid, who cheeped, sounding confused—

"Okay," the bird-kid vocalized. "Okay 'Dashi okay 'Dashi _hrr_ yes okay—"

Hiro couldn't take it anymore.

"It's _not_ okay, okay!?" he demanded, spinning around, gesturing with his empty hand. "Tadashi's—Tadashi's _gone, okay!? He's gone and he's never coming back so please, stop asking about him!"_

The bird-kid looked like Hiro felt, stock-still and shocked beyond response, staring at him with chest heaving—

Launched itself at him, screaming—

Hiro fell back, scrambling—the bird-kid pinned him, shrieking angrily in his face—

Cold shock ripped through him upon looking up at the furious bird-kid.

That was why. That was why the face was so maddeningly familiar. He hadn't seen because of the wide eyes and the varied expressions, the younger face still with some baby fat, but—

But right now, snarling down at him, when he was looking up at that face with narrowed eyes and severe cheekbones—that face—

_That was Obake's face._


	33. When I was Only, When I was Lonely

**Chapter 33, everybody! And I think in my writing up on this I might be getting close to having it entirely written out…might bump it up to posting twice a week once that happens but in the meantime know that we have updates clean into the new year. :D In other news…get ready to be wrecked by this chapter because ****_writing_**** it totaled me. D:**

**Did love the responses to last chapter though because I was wondering how it would be received and if I should have maybe buffed it out some more—got three different reactions from three different people, so I'm thinking it was always going to end in chaos. ^^**

**Continuing blanket disclaimer: I still have not finished Season Two. We're flying blind, boys. Still keeping up with Season 3, though, and…didn't mind "Big Chibi 6," but the episodes still feel too fast.**

**The title for this chapter is a reference to the lyrics of an oldies song, but I forgot which one. Thought I had it saved in my favorites….Also, summary of season one! And 'Kase quoting Chris Tucker from ****_Rush Hour 2_**** those are good movies. And a chunk of this chapter was inspired by an episode of ****_Criminal Minds_**** and might accidentally have some meta references oops.**

**Also referencing ****_Lilo and Stitch_**** because space aliens in Hawaii sounds like such a conspiracy theory and yet according to that show it's right on the money. XD In other news, the strandline is the line on a beach left by the high tide—was typing along, went ****_I know there's a name for that_****, looked it up, and now you too know. :D**

**In other news...yes I'm still in denial of the end of "Countdown to Catastrophe" don't at me. D:**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Yes, love writing those two together. :D And YES—and yes; probably shouldn't have left two kids in fragile states by themselves….**

**SilverPhoenix, thanks for the review! YEEEEEEEE! Hmm, it could…but let's not kid ourselves Nox's last name is ****_totally_**** Hamada. XD YES glad you like (rematch later, perhaps?...). Me too. D:**

**Hexyah, thanks for the review! UGH I had forgot about the pigeon (probably just blocked it from my brain). XP Don't be too impressed, Tadashi's planning on having his epic freak-out later. XD Oh ****_definitely…._**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

_In retrospect, it started with that not-a-paperweight of Granville's, the one that nearly wrecked the train Aunt Cass was on and almost resulted in Hiro's death from a malfunctioning Baymax. Everything from that point on could be traced to one source—the painting, Noodle Burger Boy, the Kentucky Kaiju, Trina—every misfortunate thing could be retroactively traced back to one source—_

_Obake._

_Obake, the man who had pulled the strings on everyone, who had Hiro and company chasing their own tails for months while he did as he pleased—_

_Obake, the man who had reprogrammed Hiro's best friend and had him kidnapped, brought straight to his lair with a terrifying proposition._

_In sum: join or die._

_Be okay with the destruction of San Fransokyo, the death of Aunt Cass and everyone else he cared about, or join them. And he could tell, tell by the expression on his face, the look in his eye—he fully expected Hiro to be okay with that._

_"We could be brilliant together, you and I."_

_And the worst part of it was, in an awful little place deep down Hiro knew that part of him had been tempted—not by Aunt Cass's potential death or the death of millions, never. But the option to do what he wanted, the lack of limits that had been promised before everything went sideways in the worst possible way last year—_

_The knowledge that he had been used, been tricked, had been run ragged and never got close, had just barely won by the skin of his teeth—_

_The knowledge that as Fred said, no body meant there was always a slim chance that Obake could come back._

_This—_

This was not how Hiro had been expecting that.

Cold shock was preventing his mind from gaining traction, from clicking onto the proper thoughts—this couldn't _be_ _him,_ couldn't possibly be—

The bird-kid with Obake's face screamed in his again—

Was gone.

Hiro laid there, breathing ragged, blinking—that had been—that couldn't be—

Heard rustling—

Sat up in time to see the bird-kid slip from a tree up to the wall and over, silhouette outlined by the light pollution of San Fransokyo.

Oh no.

Scramble upright, through the house, out the front door to his moped, struggling to get his phone out of his pocket and into his hand without dropping it and trying to dial at the same time—managed to get it to dial, shove his helmet on as it went through—

_"What, Hiro," _Gogo said. _"It hasn't even been ten minutes, chill—"_

_"The bird-kid got out!" _Hiro blurted, kicking the moped into gear. "He got over the wall and he's gone and—"

_"Wait what—"_

_"The bird-kid is loose, okay!?" And Obake—_what was all this anyway? This wasn't—this wasn't another one of _his_ schemes, was it? Baymax would have been able to tell if it was a robot it _bled_—

_What if Baymax had been compromised again? _And him, total genius, having left him alone with that _thing_ all last night—

Drive off one-handed, phone sounding like Gogo was filling in the rest of the team—

_"We're going to get Baymax to scan for him—we're on our way be careful all right?"_ Gogo asked.

Heart thudded painfully—not Baymax not again—

_Blinking up at Baymax in confusion—"Uh, I said ow? Hello, personal healthcare companion?"_

_Tapping his chip bay to see that purple chip with a snarling red monster decal—_

_"HIRO!"_

_"Okay I'm on it!"_ Hiro yelped, hanging up the phone and stuffing it into his pocket so he could better steer—whatever this was, he couldn't let that bird-kid get away—

Not again.

* * *

Nox was done. He had _tried_ being good, he had _tried_ being nice—

It had been ages and ages and ages, he could _understand_ 'Dashi's-Hiro being upset, of thinking that 'Dashi wouldn't come except Nox had _told him_ that 'Dashi _would_ come because 'Dashi was good and safe and older-brother he wouldn't just _leave_ they had travelled through _desert_ and _canyon_ and _forest_ and passed up all sorts of very good _nest_ just to find 'Dashi's-Hiro 'Dashi was _coming, okay?_

But maybe it had been so long he had forgotten everything—trying to trade _sorry_-rock had ended up with Nox losing SHINY rock with nothing in return _WHY_—couldn't help the worried tendril inside what about the no-good bad _poison_ 'Dashi had found that took away wings took away tail took away feathers took away understanding? Was _this_ what happened? No wings no feathers no tail no understanding no happiness—not even understanding the importance of trading _sorry_-rocks to show that yes you were sorry for argument, not understanding the importance of snuggle-close and _purr_ and the dangers of being _only? _Was this what happened?

Fitting what he suspected to what he knew, Nox suspected that _this_ was why 'Dashi had been so happy at finding no-good bad _poison_: because he _knew_ that 'Dashi's-Hiro had been given the no-good bad _poison_, knew it was making him hurt, and maybe knew a way to undo it. _That_ was why they had to go to the cave that smelled of the bad-place, because he needed it to give 'Dashi's-Hiro his wings back so he could be proper flock proper flight be _happy_ again.

And 'Dashi's-Hiro _wasn't_ happy, had sadness soaking him all the time even when smiling and saying _happiness_ with noise and body tone—there was an underlying sadness there that made Nox want to hug him and tell him it'd be okay, that 'Dashi would fix everything because 'Dashi was good and safe and older-brother and good—

And he would—he would because if he had as much love-love-love as he did when talking about 'Dashi's-Hiro, if 'Dashi's-Hiro had as much love-love-love as 'Dashi….

'Dashi's-Hiro should _trust_ that 'Dashi was coming, should _trust_ that Nox was telling the truth, telling a not-lie—'Dashi was coming he _had_ to be—

Maybe because he had been hurting for so long—like Louie had been aching so hard from rejection of _first-impression_ they all had but Louie registered it worse—maybe he had been hurting for so long waiting for 'Dashi to come dealing with being a clumsy no-feather who couldn't even _play_ okay—maybe it was like the _bald-face no-beak_, where all the anger and burning inside just came lashing out.

Except Nox took it just as well as he had the _bald-face no-beak._

_"Tadashi's GONE, okay? H-he's gone and he's never coming back!"_

It hurt. It hurt in the worst all-encompassing pain possible—

Because it wasn't a not-truth or a not-lie, it was a fear that threatened to overwhelm and hearing it out loud made it roar inside—

It was why he launched himself at 'Dashi's-Hiro, sending him flailing back, scrambling to protect himself—stamping front paws around his shoulders and screaming angrily in his face to _TAKE IT BACK!—_

'Dashi's-Hiro had a look of terror on his face that was starting to bleed into disbelief and then _fear-anger-hate-YOU_—

He had to get out of there.

Scream in his face again, spin, flee—not into the fake-nest—he couldn't stay here, it just emphasized how badly this was _cage_ and everything was starting to swell in his chest and threaten to choke he needed out needed to get out to find 'Dashi—

The trees. There were some that grew close to _wall,_ that he was certain he could climb up and escape with, that he hadn't considered earlier because fake-nest had at least been _safe_.

Until now.

Dig his claws into _bark_, sending chips flying as he flashed up the tree, breathing ragged as he leaped for the edge of _wall_—not caring if he hurt himself or slipped and fell right now _NOTHING_ could hurt worse than the all-encompassing ache inside—

_Tadashi's gone and he's never coming back!_

Not true—that was NOT TRUE—

He had to find 'Dashi.

Top of _wall_ wasn't even wide enough for good bound, other side as sheer as first side nothing to climb down with—scramble along _wall_, feeling Not-Dashi's-Hiro's eyes on him because that was _NOT_ 'Dashi's Hiro—

Finally found a place where he could jump down without hurting too bad, where he could make several small _bounds_ and scrapes to get to ground with only small belly-flop to drive breath out of him—

Fled through brush, slipping through _cage_ out into wide-space that smelled, running as fast as he could—

He had to find 'Dashi, he _had_ to—

_Tadashi's gone and he's never coming back!_

No—no, no—

Crying, keening—'Dashi wasn't _gone,_ 'Dashi wouldn't _leave him—_

_I'll find you, okay? I'LL FIND YOU!_

_Tadashi's gone and he's never coming back!_

No—no he wouldn't believe that that was Not-Dashi's-Hiro being _MEAN_ 'Dashi would look for him and find him and then they'd be good and safe and good again—

_"'DASHI!"_ he shrieked, bounding downhill into brighter space—ground was hard and unforgiving and scraping his paws and he _hated it_—"_'DASHI—"_

Shriek in alarm when one of those monsters that had tried to eat Louie tried to eat him—scramble out of its path for another to come after him—no—nonono those monsters were pack hunters they were like flock like flight where all moved as one and hunted as one and that meant with him being ground-bound and _only—_

_No._

Scream, fleeing, trying to scramble up nearest _cliff_ but claws unable to get any traction drop down and flee, no-feathers everywhere shrieking and dodging and yelping angrily—he had to get out of here had to find 'Dashi—

_Tadashi's gone and he's never coming back!_

Everything was too loud and scary and dangerous and he needed 'Dashi he needed 'Dashi like he needed to fly he was ground-bound and _only_ but he had to find 'Dashi but bad things happened when you were _only_—

Shriek anew when another one of those monsters came barreling down on him, screeching and snarling—try to dodge away, but they were everywhere and he couldn't flee no-feathers were watching him and not helping they were in the _way_ he couldn't—

Heart breaking when he realized he was going to die without ever seeing 'Dashi or any of the others ever again.

_Tadashi's gone and he's never coming back!_

Collapse, curling up and squeezing eyes shut bunching paws around head, hoping it wouldn't last long hoping it wouldn't hurt but he couldn't imagine it hurting any worse than he hurt inside, screaming and sobbing as the monster came in with hot breath—

_CRUNCH._

He didn't feel any different, thought that there would be sharp-teeth—felt patting instead, heard Honey-Lemon who was nice and had _muffins_ talking—

_"I have detected: no severe injuries," _Baymax announced.

"Okay—okay it's all right—guys we found him we're bringing him back—"

Felt paws tugging, felt bigger paws lifting—registered that he was _NOT_ dead, that Baymax had him and was flying—

_Flying through the air being carried by Baymax, unable to do more than cheep weakly—'Dashi—_

He could do more now, see how high they were higher than he had ever managed with his own two wings—Baymax holding him gently but firmly against his squirming, crying out for 'Dashi _'Dashi PLEASE_—

Baymax looked down at him, back up. _"I will scan for: Tadashi."_

"Baymax—" Honey-Lemon said, sounding sad and hurting. "Baymax let's just—get him back to Fred's, okay? He—he just had a _seriously_ traumatic experience."

_NO—no_ he wanted 'Dashi _NEEDED_ 'Dashi PLEASE—beg for Baymax to help him find 'Dashi PLEASE he'd never ask for anything again never ever ever just PLEASE, he wanted to be back with 'Dashi—

_I'll find you, okay? I'LL FIND YOU!_

_Tadashi's gone and he's never coming back!_

Scream, screech, try to struggle free—howling for 'Dashi he needed 'Dashi 'Dashi _PLEASE_ he didn't want to be here anymore didn't want to be in _city_ didn't want to be in Fred-nest he was _SORRY_ he should have stayed with the others he should have listened he was sorry-sorry-sorry 'Dashi _PLEASE_ 'Dashi _PLEASE come back for me find me PLEASE_—

_I'll find you, okay? I'LL FIND YOU!_

_Tadashi's gone and he's never coming back!_

Sobs were wringing out, fresher and harder when he realized Baymax was taking him right back to Fred-nest—no, no—

_No._

No he wouldn't accept this he wouldn't end up like Not-Dashi's-Hiro where he just _gave up_ he HAD to get back to 'Dashi he _HAD TO_—

Had to get away from Not-Dashi's-Hiro, coming up with the rest of his flock his flight and still with that _angry-angry at YOU_ face—

Managed to squeeze away, flee—hit the ground running, running straight for that tree, up-up-up—

_"MINI-MAXIMUM INTERCEPTION!"_

Nox shrieked, flailing back at the small blue LOUD thing stopping him—was caught by Baymax, lowered to the ground—

_"Leaving Fred's place would not be healthy,"_ Baymax said—

No-no-no he was NOT buying that he was NOT he had to get out had to get to 'Dashi had to please—wrench himself free, running—had to find a new place to escape—

Except he could hear the small blue LOUD thing flying overhead, tracking him, knew it would stop him whenever he tried to escape, knew that Baymax and Not-Dashi's-Hiro's flock his flight would bring him back and he couldn't outrun them because of broken-wing—

_Cage._

_Trapped._

_I'll find you, okay? I'LL FIND YOU!_

_Tadashi's gone and he's never coming back!_

_Tadashi's gone and he's never coming back!_

Despair crushed him then, made him wobble, collapse—sobbing so hard it felt like someone was clawing everything inside him out—except there was no flock no flight to echo the noise back to him because one's pain was everyone's pain—

No 'Dashi to hug close and assure him everything was all right.

_Tadashi's gone and he's never coming back!_

He was vaguely aware of Not-Dashi's-Hiro's flock his flight asking _what happened_, of Not-Dashi's-Hiro giving a sort of mumbling response—he didn't care, what he cared about was the empty hollow aching feeling inside, the pain of being _only_ the pain of being kept from flock from flight the pain of being ground-bound with broken-wing—

_Tadashi's gone and he's never coming back!_

…the pain-fear of Not-Dashi's-Hiro being _right_, that 'Dashi was gone forever and Nox would be _only_ forever no more flock no more flight no more 'Dashi—

But he had no more to give, no desire to stay awake in this horrible terrible reality, this world where everything was wrong where wings were stolen where 'Dashi was _gone_—

_I'll find you, okay? I'LL FIND YOU!_

_Tadashi's gone and he's never coming back!_

Exhaustion ate him, sending him falling into the deep oblivion of sleep—

Anything was preferable to here.

* * *

Tadashi was of the very firm opinion that anything was preferable to here.

Not that he thought they had much choice though—trying to dodge the airborne members of Big Hero Six very nearly put them in the crosshairs of their ground units—at least temporarily, this drainage pipe was preferable.

Even if he _was_ seriously debating the merits of being captured by a vigilante group right about now.

'Kase was of the same opinion.

"No," she said flatly. "No I'm not going any farther I'll take my chances with the goon squad."

"'Kase chill we're fine," Tadashi insisted.

"We are not fine _there are rats down there."_

"There aren't any rats—"

_"Look at that rat!"_

He glanced around, really hoping there weren't any rats to see—

Jumped back, squawking in alarm when he bumped into somebody sitting in his path.

Said somebody scrambled around himself, procured a wrench to hold defensively. "Dave I _told you_ I ain't playin' you touched my stuff _one more time—"_

"I'm sorry I'm sorry!" Tadashi said quickly. "I-I'm not Dave, whoever he is—"

"Oh," the guy said, lowering the wrench a little. "Well if you're looking to rob me, you've got another thing coming—"

"I'm not here for that either—my friend and I—we-we're just trying to hide, okay?"

"So we'd really appreciate it if you'd keep it down," 'Kase said, much closer to Tadashi thanks to a perceived threat.

"Ah," the guy said, lowering his wrench a little more. "You didn't do something illegal did you? We don't tolerate that here this is a _respectable_ pipe—"

"More like avoiding people trying to catch us."

"That could be anyone from the cops to those body-snatchers Jerry down the line says is picking people up." The guy frowned. "Course, he might have a point—most of the usuals haven't been around in _weeks_ now…large groups of people like that don't suddenly get a collective streak of good luck."

Tadashi had concerns. "You don't…_live_ here, do you?"

"In San Fransokyo, or this particular pipe?"

"Right where we are right now."

"I do—the perils of falling through the system's cracks."

He wasn't sure why learning this guy was homeless shocked him so bad—everything that had happened, and yet this stopped him dead. "But—"

'Kase stopped him, focused on the guy now. "What's this your friend Jerry says about people getting snatched?"

"Jerry's more that weird neighbor that everyone tolerates," the guy said, fishing in his jacket. "You might have seen him near the turnoff, with the aluminum hat and the _end is nigh_ sign. Ah."

Tadashi flinched back as light illuminated the area, blinking to adjust to the new light source of a tiny lighter—

Realized that the guy had not been aware of two bird-people crouching next to him until just now. "Uh—"

"I don't suppose your friend Jerry's theory involves a genetics company snatching people and then performing experiments on them," 'Kase said, recovering first.

The guy stared at them for the longest time, having to process this.

"You people," he said finally. "Are gonna make me tell Jerry he's right—do you know how long I've fought to keep those words from coming out of my mouth _the man believes space aliens invaded Hawaii I have problems with this."_

"And yet you seem fine with bird-people."

"Let's just say if we hadn't already been talking I wouldn't be this calm."

Considering he had the wrench back up, Tadashi didn't think he was very calm now either. "My name's Tadashi," he offered. "Tadashi Hamada. This is my friend, 'Kase. We're…kind of avoiding some people that might want to dissect us."

The guy considered them.

"Seems like a fair enough plan," he said finally, lowering the wrench. "Sherman Thomas, former army."

So the bomber jacket and badges were his. "Thank you for that."

Sherman gave a sideways nod—'Kase glanced between them, apparently decided to move things along.

"We're looking for someone who looks kind of like us," she offered. "The feathers and wings and such. Seen anyone like that?"

"No I haven't, and honestly I'm wondering if I _didn't_ take Ern's offer to split a bottle of wine up," Sherman said. "What happened to you?"

"Eh…genetics company thought it'd be fun to take normal people and add…stuff," Tadashi said, tugging on some of the feathers. "I looked, but they didn't have a suggestion box or a feedback survey."

"They're also the ones looking to dissect us," 'Kase added.

"You all really gonna make me tell Jerry he's right, aren't you," Sherman asked, looking both exhausted and done—like bird-people were this overwhelming thing…okay fair they were.

"I'm starting to like this Jerry."

"You wouldn't if you knew him personally."

"So no one else that looks like us," Tadashi asked.

"Nobody."

Tadashi looked at 'Kase, who shrugged.

"He wouldn't," she told him. "The kids would avoid low places or underground areas like this."

"Well at least that narrows it down," Tadashi muttered.

"What are you two talking about?" Sherman asked.

"Another friend of ours—smaller than us, black hair black feathers blue eyes, answers to Nox."

"Speaks bird," 'Kase added in an undertone.

"He's just a kid and he's probably really scared right now."

"You're still the only bird-people I've seen," Sherman assured them. "And the _last_ dude I saw with dark hair and blue eyes, I made sure he thought I was _dead_—he was creepy, had Jerry convinced the pipes were haunted."

That was odd but not the most pressing concern Tadashi had—blinked in surprise when 'Kase seemed interested. "Was he well-dressed?"

"To the nines—totally out of place, not that any of us had the nerve to comment on it."

'Kase considered this—

Everyone twitched at a scraping noise coming from the pipe entrance.

"What do you think that was?" Tadashi asked 'Kase in an undertone. 'Kase shook her head, opened her beak to respond—

Someone ran screaming past them, causing Tadashi to jump back and accidentally pin 'Kase against the wall. "What the—"

"That was Jerry," Sherman said. "Not _usually_ a cause for alarm—"

Scraping again, followed by…huffling. An odd snorting noise that made something deep in Tadashi's psyche scream that they were being _hunted_.

But by what?

Whatever it was, 'Kase got the same message, nails digging into him. "We should go."

"We should," Tadashi agreed. "Except whatever that is is between us and the exit—yeah?" he asked, looking over at the tapping he was getting from Sherman—at least he hoped it was him; his eyes were adjusting to the small light source being snapped off.

"Further down this pipe, take a left, then the right going up—it'll get you to the beach," Sherman told him. "You kids' better start running."

"Thanks," Tadashi said, nudging 'Kase along. "Come on—you too, come on."

Sherman smiled at him. "Can't," he said, patting a leg. "But whoever's after you, I could slow them down."

What? "No—" Realize what he had been implying, that he only had a leg to stand on. "We can help—"

"If it's cops or that superhero group, I can talk them up and distract them for a few minutes. If it's anyone else, I want a crack at them. You go, find your friend." Pick up his wrench. "And drop by again sometime, I enjoyed this little chat."

"'Dashi, let's _go,"_ 'Kase hissed.

Tadashi hesitated—finally let himself be dragged away, constantly glancing over his shoulder as he ran, hating this—hated leaving someone behind like that, certain even as they took the first turn and lost sight of him that they could have helped somehow—

But down the other pipe was the sounds of a struggle, of more people, and he wasn't sure now if he and 'Kase could have made it if they tried to haul him out.

Reach the second turning, start to head up the sloping pipe—

Stop and double back when he realized 'Kase hadn't taken it. "'Kase?"

She was standing at the turning, looking at a different pipe that sloped down—the direction and amount of water inside it made him think into the bay. "'Kase!"

"He might have made it," she said quietly to herself—started when Tadashi touched her shoulder, eyes not quite focused—

Widening in fear when she looked over his shoulder. He turned, looked, stomach curdling—

And then freezing when his slightly improved night vision picked up a shape moving in the pipe they had just left.

It wasn't human—that was the first thing his mind decided to process. Huge, filling the pipe, back sloping, blunt muzzle filled with sharp teeth—inanely he thought of a shark that had somehow found itself on land and mobile—

"We need to go," 'Kase squeaked, tugging on him as she slipped up the side turning. Tadashi was more than willing to follow, trying to hear over his own pounding heartbeat and slipping footsteps, glancing back fearfully and fully expecting to see that thing coming after them—

Gasped in surprise when he stumbled—had to take a moment to realize they were on the beach, like Sherman had promised.

His insides lurched as he thought of the man—that thing would have had to come right by him, he wouldn't have been able to do anything to it—he should have insisted, should have helped—

Would he have made a difference? What if—say Callaghan _hadn't_ gone off the deep end—if he had found Callaghan and tried to help him out…the building had exploded shortly afterwards. They would have both died. Not helping would have seen him safe, still with Hiro, alive—

But still burning with guilt, like he was right now. The idea that he could have _done something_, no matter how potentially fatal it would be—if it could make a difference, _help_ someone—

_Hiro still needs you. Nox still needs you. Someone has to help, but that someone can't be you if you're dead._

He'd have to get over this, sort through this eventually—but not right now. Right now he had to push all this aside, to straighten up and get away from that pipe before that _thing_ came out—he didn't doubt it tracked by scent—

Slowed from his pacing away as he registered some of the flotsam littering the beach.

"What happened here?" he asked, walking over to 'Kase, standing on the strandline and looking out at the lighthouse across the bay, arms wrapped around herself. Foot kicked against something—

Looked down to see that he had nudged a chunk of metal away, revealing a little purple data chip with a snarling red monster decal on it.

"Something happened here," 'Kase said, not looking about as he dipped down to pick the chip up—whoever had made it had done a good job, there didn't seem to be much water damage. "I _know_ something happened here—I just can't remember." Sigh, sagging. "They aren't mine to remember."

He stood, pocketing the chip so he could hug her. "Hey—hey it's okay. It's…." What could he say about this? About any of this?

She sniffed, coughed. "No, it's not okay." Look at him finally, seemed to see something in his expression. "You're not allowed to feel bad about that—he _wanted_ to stay behind."

Sherman, she meant. "That…it doesn't mean I still can't feel bad about it." Look at her. "And…I guess you're allowed to feel bad about…whatever this was." Gesture to the beach. "Whatever happened here."

She shook her head. "No…no I shouldn't. Whatever it was…it wasn't me." Deep breath, look at the pipe. "We need to get out of here."

Tadashi nodded, followed her as they fled the scene—

Something stopped him from asking about the chip he had found. Maybe later, once they had recovered from this…but not right now. They both had things to work through, they had a poor lost bird-kid to find…but later, he promised himself. He'd help her through this…whatever this had been later.

_Someone has to help._


	34. A Taste of the Past

**Chapter 34, everybody! And I think in my writing up on this I might be getting close to having it entirely written out…might bump it up to posting twice a week once that happens but in the meantime know that we have updates clean into the new year. :D **

**Continuing blanket disclaimer: I still have not finished Season Two. We're flying blind, boys. Still keeping up with Season 3, though. And again, a good chunk of these chapters were written before I had been able to bring myself to watch "Countdown to Catastrophe"…and in other news, yes I'm still in denial of the end of "Countdown to Catastrophe" don't at me. D:**

**Nox testing the sippy cup is how birds—especially parrots—will test new things (kind of like Mei with the oatmeal). And of all the senses, taste and scent are most closely linked with memory—in Nox's case, even if the memory isn't _his_. Taste and scent are also closely linked with each other, so if you've smelled something you generally have a good idea of what it tastes like (except vanilla extract—that stuff lies to us).**

**Also, me with Obake: "Oh man he's so cool and cunning and clever I love this guy!"**

**Also me: "This dude also stalked, tormented, and gaslighted a fourteen-year-old and this is definitely not the type of thing that gets shrugged off."**

**In other news, Fred is quoting Nick Fury from the _Ultimate Spider-Man_ comics, and I have been holding onto that desperately with this series because Obake may be a piece of work but dang I miss him. ;^;/**

**So begonias was just a toss it out there thing at first but as it turns out they prefer tropical climates—so they would still do well in San Fran because _what do you mean you dudes have mall weather year-round wtf._**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Yes on all counts! Glad people are liking Sherman. :D Yes poor bird-boy he needs snacks and snuggling and no yelling! D:**

**Hexyah, thanks for the review! Yes, no! (actually surprised at what a hit he is, ngl). Yeah…wrote a bunch of this before watching Season 2, still haven't watched past "Lie Detector," so I get to go with what my first impressions were and make her nice and cold and conniving (I'm sure "City of Monsters" probably tries to redeem her but…yeah not gonna happen here, I don't think). Ooh, I like that description…definitely putting that on my to-watch list (but I totally get Regina VS Rumple now that you've pointed it out used to never miss that show XD). And now you make me excited to work more on my other BH6 fic _Ghost's Fury_—you think those two clash _now…._And yes those descriptions—right on the dot, goodness I love this comment. *insert Pacha's "just right" pic***

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

_He knew immediately that this was a nightmare, knew it from the sickly glowing green screens flashing useless information—eyes darting everywhere, scrambling—the screens were flashing faces he knew, no-feathers he had met recently—_

_A moment—Not-Dashi's-Hiro, with Baymax—looking terrified and then angry—he tried to say something, waving his hands—his own voice was muffled and distant—nothing was working right—he didn't care that Not-Dashi's-Hiro hated him, he needed help—he needed to get out of here—_

_Blurring, shifting, changing—the place had collapsed now—he hurt, he hurt all over, clutching at his arm, mouth open, throat tight against his gasping—he wanted to cry, sob, keen—'Dashi—'Dashi please—_

_Again—swimming, nothing working right, no tail no wings legs wrong but he needed to get to the surface before his lungs burst—_

_Surface with a rattling gasp—_

_No._

_No he knew this dream he had had it before—if he went to shore then she would get him, her and her monsters and would take him to the bad-place he didn't want that no no no—_

_There had to be something he could do, something he could do to change this—if he had his wings, he could spread them and float, give himself time to think—_

_But he couldn't stay in the water—his muscles ached and hurt everything hurt and the water was cold-cold-cold he needed to get warm and dry he wanted to get back to the nest they had gone to when the rain had soaked them to the bone he wanted 'Dashi he wanted out please—_

_Shore—no no no don't stay here start running—no wings but he could still scramble to safety—_

_But his legs were all wrong and the sand sucked at his paws he couldn't get away everything was all wrong—_

_And then the monsters got him, held him fast while she came up to him—_

_"Don't worry hon—we'll take good care of you."_

_No—no—_

_"Hey!"_

_Dragged away, kicking and struggling—_

_"Hey little dude, you out here?"_

Nox jerked awake—_run—_

Burst from cover and slammed right into something big and smooth and shiny with a plant growing out of it.

"Yo dude!" _Fwah_ barked, jumping at Nox's sudden appearance. "Man, sorry about that—didn't think breakfast was going to be _that_ big a deal. Bet you remembered Mom's pancakes and got excited, huh? Huh?"

Nox laid there, rubbing his head and whimpering, trying to see through blurry eyes—no, he was still here, still in this not-forest-not-woods where 'Dashi wasn't, his wing was still broken—

Not-Dashi's-Hiro hated him.

Fwah was dangling a _pancake_ over his face—he bolted up, snatched it, stuffed it in his mouth, previous concerns forgotten—this was _food_, it was _good_ food, and it succeeded in making him forget all the bad-bad-bad for at least a moment—

"Dude, pace yourself," Fwah said, putting something big and _SHINY_ down before sitting next to Nox. "You're going to choke yourself like this. Also!" Fwah picked up something sitting on the _SHINY_ and showed it to Nox. "New and improved milk! See, you suck here, _but!"_ he turned it upside-down and shook it. "See? Doesn't spill! For you."

Nox turned this new thing over, considering it, tapping claws against it, testing it with his tongue—

Tasted _milk_ when he reached the part Fwah had indicated.

"See, I figured there'd be a thing where you needed to see how it worked," Fwah said, picking up a second milk-thing off the _SHINY_ and indicating it. "Observe."

Nox watched Fwah suck on it, imitated—was surprised to find that he got more milk out than he had licking it.

"Ahaha! Knew that'd do it!" Fwah cheered, flailing a little as Nox worked to get as much _milk_ out of this thing as possible. "Also, Mom made an order at the Lucky Cat—bla-blam! Blueberry scone!"

Nox flinched a little at the enthusiastic presentation—blinked at the new thing that smelled like _food_, debated on temporarily abandoning the _milk_ in favor of this new thing—

_New_ won out.

"I'm telling you, Aunt Cass makes like the best stuff ever," Fwah said, taking a big bite of a _scone_ after a moment of silence. "Except the pancakes—those are tied with Mom's."

Nox nodded, tapping the _scone_ and turning it over and sniffing it and touching his tongue to it—sweet good _yes_—big bite, half of it in one go because good-food meant _competition_ and he was used to having to fight twelve others for good-food and having to hurry to eat before the olders said _no no no don't eat that—_flavor flooding his mouth as he chewed, tucking as much into his cheeks as he could and swallowing some so he could stuff the rest in—

He'd eaten this before.

There was still a quarter left—his speed had suddenly abated, suddenly focused on chewing what he had and trying to pick apart why this tasted familiar—this wasn't anything he had eaten before, not the shiny wriggling things or the _cereal_ or the _trail mix_ or the dozens of things that 'Dashi and the olders told them _no don't eat that_—nothing from the _forest_ or _woods_ or _desert_ or _cabin_ or _hills_—not even from the bad-place, where food had no flavor and he only ate it because it made the gnawing in his stomach less.

This was _new_.

This was _familiar_.

It made a thought suddenly spring to mind—someplace warm and airy and bright like _outside_ but not, someone who felt like Sue and Beth and 'Dashi in front of him—she was blurry, her words were blurry, everything about it was blurry, but the taste was there.

"Well? What do you think?" Fwah asked, as Nox swallowed the last of it.

Something in the thought—a _word_ he knew he said, so he _must_ know it—

"Yummy," he managed finally—_words_ were hard, words were clumsy and didn't always say what you meant, he missed the others and the conversations they had—

Try to finish off the _scone_, but now every bite made that thought come back, awful because he didn't know it, didn't know where it came from—there was a good feeling in that thought though—maybe it was a _remember_ from before the bad-place?

Except…no…no matter how hard he clawed at those thoughts (and he hated to, he'd much rather forget the bad-place), there was nothing before the bad-place, nothing before waking up to _her_ looming over him, nothing before the bad-bad-awful-bad torture and then being thrown into a _cell_ with no night no day just harsh lights and an awful smell and tasteless odorless food and the sounds of so many others crying and screaming and him curled up and crying and sobbing and keening his misery, trying to wring it all out even when he heard voices yell _shut up!_

Sometimes there'd be nice voices—voices that'd try to soothe him and the others that sounded similar to him, that didn't talk in harsh _words_ but understood and shared his keening—there had been one voice, before Sue and Beth, that had been good and nice and good, but it had gone away and was never heard from again.

But the others—maybe the others had been why he had been able to last until 'Dashi came, even though he knew that he didn't _know_ 'Dashi would come—Webby and Lena and Dewey and Della and Violet and Huey and Louie and Mei and Trisha and Taylor and Harry and Drew, before 'Dashi and the others had given them _names_—they had been comforting, whistles and chirps and chitterings of _you-you-you here you here there here?_

There had been more of those voices too, he remembered—voices that had gone away.

He didn't want to eat any more—the scone was making him think bad-thoughts, of the bad-place he didn't _want_ to remember—it made him realize just how aching and _everything_ missing 'Dashi was, because 'Dashi was good and safe and older-brother and knew-everything and he had gotten him out of the bad-place he had grabbed Nox and flown away 'Dashi was good and he missed him so bad it hurt—

And then the others—how awful and echoing and empty his ears were, without being in their constant conversational cloud—they were always talking with each other, ready for a new challenge or funny or trick or story or _ooh look at that_—it had been _so long_, ages and ages and ages and forever and ever and ever since he had to think of himself as _only_, of just himself separate from everyone. He belonged to a flock, a flight—he wasn't supposed to be just Nox.

The scone didn't taste like the warm thought anymore—it tasted like _ash_, like gritty and greasy and smoky and stick-to-tongue-and-mouth and no-taste like Dewey had reported when they had challenged him to eat some from the _fireplace_ in the _cabin—_they had laughed at his face, laughed more when Louie had given him _coffee_ to drink to wash the yuck-taste out of his mouth, Louie howling hardest because it had been _his_ trick-joke and it had succeeded—all of them squawking and squeaking when Dewey tackled Louie for the trick, dodging around them rolling on the floor until 'Dashi and Sashi had separated them and made them sit _time-out_ for a little bit but for what they said was _forever_ and it was _five minutes_ so it must have been but it didn't feel it—Nox had spent it crawling all over 'Dashi—

He didn't want the scone.

He chucked it away as hard as he could, pain of missing 'Dashi and the others and the olders and of his broken wing and this awful place and the terrible dreams he couldn't quite remember—all of it in an angry grunt and hard throw that sent the remainder of the _scone_ into the bushes.

"Dude," Fwah noised. "So maybe scones are a no-no. Want another pancake?"

No—no he didn't want any food it was all going to taste like _ash_ it was going to sit heavy in his stomach like when Lena had sat on him for teasing her—he didn't even remember what for now—

He didn't want to be _alone_.

He curled up tight on himself, hugging his knees and burying his face in his arms and trying to be very small and tight so none of the _sad_ could get out—he couldn't run away, Not-Dashi's-Hiro and his others would make him come back, and he couldn't _fly_ away because his wing was broken and that was awful he wanted his wings back he wanted 'Dashi he wanted the others—

"Dude," Fwah said, voice a lot softer—like when 'Dashi or one of the olders was trying to get him to feel better, or to be _shh-quiet_ for bed. "You don't have to feel bad for not liking the scone, it's cool."

No no no it wasn't that—it was partly that but it wasn't _that_—

"Want 'Dashi," he muttered—that was it, that was mostly it, that was the biggest part he wanted 'Dashi _please_—

"Dude, I get it—I miss him too."

He looked at Fwah, feeling surprise—Fwah had seen 'Dashi? He was here? "'Dashi?"

"Yeah," Fwah said, looking sad before brightening a little—looking happy-sad, like when 'Dashi talked about Hiro _I ever tell you you remind me of my little brother Hiro?_ "Hey listen—so, this was way early on in our scholastic careers at SFIT, and Tadashi—pff—listen, Tadashi had this crazy stupid idea—"

Nox listened to this story about 'Dashi, shuffling to face Fwah better, shuffling a bit closer when Fwah was animatedly telling a new story about how they bested their old foes _esssfaaayeeh,_ stealing a thing from them it sounded like one of Louie's tricks—by the time Fwah was on his third story Nox was close enough that Fwah was having to be careful of his one arm, and Nox was seriously debating about maybe crawling in his lap he was trying to make Nox feel better that was a 'Dashi thing and Fwah seemed to know 'Dashi—

And then he heard a new voice—

Oh no.

Nox bolted, deep into the _garden_ before Fwah could react, flattening his ears against Fwah calling _hey little dude where you going?_

He didn't need that—he didn't need Not-Dashi's-Hiro glaring at him.

He needed 'Dashi.

* * *

Hiro had not been looking forward to going back to Fred's. Not since last night—not since that awful shock—

He had wanted to put it off, couldn't—had been woken up _way_ early from that one nightmare—

_Tadashi—Tadashi had been back, had been in the café—Hiro had run, tackled him, hugged him tight—they had sat, talking—about what he didn't know, it was a dream so none of it had been really clear but it had been them—_

_But something—something had tipped him off—_

_"What?" Tadashi asked, as Hiro reached over, tugged. "What is it, Hiro?"_

_Hiro pulled his hand back—came back with a handful of black feathers, a wing stretching out after it._

_"Yh-y—" he squeaked, looking up into Tadashi's blue eyes—_

_Tadashi didn't have blue eyes._

_"You're not Tadashi."_

_The eyes narrowed, a smile that had no business being on Tadashi but was terribly familiar snarling its way across his face—_

_"Clever boy."_

_And the whole thing had shattered as the Tadashi-that-wasn't morphed into Obake, claws scratching his face and neck as he seized Hiro's collar, face twisted into a snarl half-lit by a ghastly glowing skull pattern and the flashing green lights of the screens in his base—_

Hiro had woken up screaming, cold sweat soaking through him—had to tell Baymax and then Aunt Cass that he was fine, just some weird dream—had to check Baymax's chip bay _again_ after that—

And then had laid in bed, staring at the partition for the longest time before crossing over and tugging it open, just enough to stare at Tadashi's empty bed. He missed him—he missed him _so badly_—

And then some—some _guy_ had sullied his memory, had plunged his hand into Hiro's chest and ripped his heart right out, had violated everything—his privacy, his sense of safety, his brother's memory—

Fred had said, before Gogo had socked him one—had said that they needed to keep an eye out, because villains didn't stay down—that so long as there wasn't a body, there was a chance that Obake could come back. Hiro had braced himself, prepared himself for that possible inevitability, thought he was ready for it when it came, had continually wound himself tighter waiting for it—

Now it had come, and not in a way he had ever suspected.

Because he had never, ever entertained the concept of bird-people—and even if he had, he never expected to see the face of a man he hated on one.

Because this, with this bird-kid—that face, _that expression_—that expression had narrowed those wide eyes, had twisted that mouth—had cemented why that kid looked so darned familiar.

And ripping into him like the man he resembled—_want 'Dashi_. Single-minded focus on that, each demand a little cut, bleeding Hiro out—

He had expected to see Obake again. He hadn't expected it to be like this.

_Be rational,_ he told himself, going back to his bed and flopping down in it, staring at the ceiling. _There's no way that could possibly be Obake—it's too young, for one._

_So a clone, maybe. _A clone that someone had tried to inject old memories into—and if that were the case, the events of Halloween would still be fresh in its mind, _Tadashi_ would still be fresh in its mind, Hiro would be—

There was a rational part of his mind knocking on the door, wanting to remind him that attempts at full duplicates had always failed—even with injecting the memories of the original, it wouldn't be _that person_; the full depth and scope of the issue with cloning involved the simple fact that there was no way for science to exactly duplicate everything that made a person, no way to duplicate the spiritual as well as the physical—no matter what, the clone would be its own person.

That didn't prevent him from seeing _that_ face every time he closed his eyes, didn't prevent _that_ face from haunting his dreams.

And it raised the HUGE question of where they had gotten the DNA from—it was probably too much to hope that it was from his body that they had dredged out of the bay, as awful as that thought was.

It also raised the question of what Sycorax had been hoping to gain out of such an action, if it was indeed a resource of Sycorax—oh who was he kidding, of course it was; found near Sycorax warehouses, Sycorax was the only one doing insane things with DNA and mutations, bird-people definitely fit the bill…what was this even?

And even if it was a clone and not _him_, there was still the question of if motivation would be the same—if it would try to act on those memories, do _something_…he didn't know what—all the tech and data had gone down in the bay…his designs on Hiro, maybe? Was that its plan? Suddenly everything took on a very sinister light….

He had stopped referring to it as _he_, he realized—referring to it as _it,_ as a thing—

Because he didn't _want_ it to be a person—because now he'd have to acknowledge what it had been made from, _who_ it had been made from—the monster that had made Hiro's life miserable, who had pulled all his strings and pushed all his buttons for _months_, and with him none the wiser until after the fact.

_That_ had been the most terrifying part, he realized—discovering that, all that, learning how blind, how oblivious he had been—this man had learned everything about him long before Hiro had even learned of his existence, had dedicated the following months to testing him, poking him, prodding him—all for a downright horrifying endgame. Hiro's skin _still_ crawled thinking about it.

…Worse, because he knew in a different life his offer would have been _seriously_ tempting—even a year earlier and it would have been tempting. But he had refused, and when he did….

In retrospect, Hiro was deeply surprised he had gotten out of the whole thing alive.

Blink blearily at the clock—sleep wasn't coming back to him anytime soon. Get up, get dressed, get his laptop…the laptop that the bird-kid had managed to snatch, dive right into Sycorax…right, couldn't use this one. Make sure the battery and tracking chip were both still out, boot up his home computer.

That should have been the tipoff, he decided, massaging his forehead as he stared at the screen. Why would a bird-kid know that sort of thing? Residual abilities from his original, Hiro figured.

Which would also explain why it kept gravitating towards him—he had thought it was from helping Baymax rescue him, binding up its wing and getting it out of there…no, most likely not.

Keep searching, digging for something, _anything_ helpful—this systematic destruction of his city…it had to be for some endgame, there had to be a reason, had to be a way for him to trip it all up—

_Like you were going to trip up Obake—you thought you had him and in reality you were always ten steps behind._

Shook his head, scrub his face—sleep wasn't coming, scouring the web wasn't helping…and that data the bird-kid had dug up…so many people snatched off the streets….

If that was even accurate—if that wasn't just some—some trick or trap—

Hiro sighed, pushed away from his desk, toed his chair back and forth…got up and headed for the bathroom.

Might as well get ready.

* * *

Hiro loaded up Baymax on the moped and zipped away for Fred's after breakfast, for once actually obeying all the signs and lights and speed limits—anything to put off this inevitable confrontation.

But eventually, inevitably, inexorably, he found himself in front of Fred's mansion, staring at the imposing façade, trying to psyche himself up enough to go in.

_"Hiro,"_ Baymax said, waddling over from his unhitched charger. _"You seem: distressed."_

"Do I?" Hiro asked, scrubbing at his head. "I'm not—why would I be distressed?"

_"You have been standing here for: three minutes and twenty-two seconds. Is there a reason for this hesitation?"_

_The bird-kid was Obake—_"No. No, no reason."

The front door opened—Hiro was expecting Heathcliff, was surprised to recognize Fred's mother.

"Uh, hi, Mrs. Fredrickson," Hiro tried, waving a little before coming up the steps. "I uh, I came to see Fred?"

"Is this about what you and Fred have in the backyard?" she asked him.

Hiro twitched a little. "Uh—school project?"

She sighed, waved him in. "Oh believe me, I've had stranger—you don't marry a Fredrickson for a sedate lifestyle."

Hiro wasn't entirely certain how to answer that. "Uh…yeah? Fred mentioned the private island."

"It's still in the discussing phase. Fred is in the backyard, and whatever you're doing, _please_ leave the begonias alone."

"Uh, yeah—sorry about that," Hiro said, grimacing—concerned about a bunch of flowers instead of the chandelier the kid had swung from when they tried bringing him in or the French door he had slammed through—apparently terrified of the idea of Hiro leaving him.

Knowing what he knew now, he had his suspicions.

Of course, knowing what he knew now made him take increasingly smaller steps to the back doors, hesitate at the boarded-up door…deep breath…open it and step out.

"Fred?" he called—something like a _yip_ that made him look—

"Hey little dude! Where you going?"

Hiro followed Fred's calling to one of the side steps, saw Fred standing on one of the steps, next to a half-eaten plate of breakfast food, peering into the bushes. "Fred?"

Fred glanced—nearly slipped when he bounced to face Hiro. "Hiro, my man! You just missed little dude—took off into the bushes when he heard you. Man, what's up with that—he's getting the ball, I bet."

"Uh, yeah," Hiro said, doubting that immensely. "Um…how…is…."

"Okay, so something I just found out, little dude does _not_ like blueberry scones. Not sure why, but okay. Told him a couple of me and Tadashi's escapades from back in the day, he liked that though." Fidget, eyes narrowed, like he wanted to dive headfirst into the conspiracy theory but knew how that'd impact Hiro. "So I know you're kind of iffy about giving the theory any weight, _but—"_

"Yeah, no, I—I really don't want to go there, okay?"

_"Hiro is distressed,"_ Baymax announced.

"Not helping, Baymax."

"Yeah no I get it—totally shelving the topic for now," Fred said, stuffing a hand in his pocket and rubbing his arm with the other. Totally _not_ wanting to drop it. "So…you came over to watch him, right? Only I _kinda_ need to go on patrol so…."

Oi. "Fred, I have school."

"Oh right. Um…so…."

Sigh. "I _might_ be willing to somewhat buy the clone theory."

"YES. Only—less yes, but _some_ yes, you get me?"

Unfortunately.

"I really do have to go on patrol though," Fred told him. "But I don't feel right leaving the little dude here by himself—cause you know, Heathcliff has other things he has to do too, so…."

Hiro nodded, thinking—after that last nasty shock with this—this _thing_, he really didn't want to, but…there was literally one member of Big Hero Six that didn't need to be elsewhere and could be spared for this.

But first.

"Baymax, I need you to lock your chip bay," Hiro told the robot. "No one gets into it except me."

Baymax blinked at him. _"You have given this order before,"_ he said. _"Is there a reason it needs repeating?"_

"Yeah—you're going to be…you're going to be babysitting…um…just keep an eye on the bird-thing, okay?"

"Hey yeah!" Fred exclaimed. "Baymax'd be an awesome babysitter! Dude, it's just for an hour I swear—we can't be letting the city feel like it's been neglected and all."

Baymax blinked, nodded. _"I will strive to be an excellent 'babysitter.'"_

"Great! Oh wait dude—for the record, _babysitting_ does not actually require you to _sit_ on any _babies."_

"Is there a reason you felt that Baymax needed that clarification?" Hiro asked, giving Fred a half-lidded stare.

"Eh, one of those running gags in cartoons where the literal-minded character takes the word at face-value, it's a thing that happens."

Hiro shook his head, looked skywards for strength, looked down at Baymax. "You'll be all right though?"

_"I will be fine,"_ Baymax told him, before looking at Fred. _"And I will edit my matrix on: babysitting."_

"Ha!" Fred barked, as Baymax waddled to the edge of the deck. "That was a joke—you just made a joke, Baymax. He was joking, right?"

"Maybe," Hiro muttered, eyes raking the garden as Baymax scanned it. "Is he still here, Baymax?"

_"He is,"_ Baymax assured him, before making his way down the steps.

"Told you he was," Fred said. "Came out for breakfast this morning, definitely liked it—took off when he heard you though. Dude, _what_ did you two do? We were gone for like ten minutes."

Hiro had reacted exactly how anyone would when they saw the face of the man who had been tormenting him on a young bird-human hybrid: very poorly.

But he couldn't quite articulate that yet—definitely couldn't last night, with the shock so fresh in his mind. He was going to have to explain it to the team soon, _somehow_—just not right now, not while he was still trying to process it, to get through the shock and figure this out.

"I don't know," he said instead, stuffing his hands in his pockets and twitching his head in enough of a negative motion to shake his bangs. "Anyway I gotta get to school—be careful, Baymax!"

"_I will exercise caution,"_ Baymax assured him, waddling away down the path.

"You be careful too," Hiro told Fred. "I beefed up Mini-Max a bit, but if there's more of those monsters out there—"

"Hey, we will be _totally_ prepped!" Fred said, assuming a kung-fu stance. "And we'll be keeping an eye out for bird-people too—totally ready for an aerial assault."

"Well, good luck," Hiro sighed, heading for the street.

"Thanks—you too! Hey—ask Mom nice, she might see if Heathcliff is willing to drive you!"

"I'll take the trolley, thanks." He needed some time by himself to sort through his feelings on this matter.

Starting with whether or not he believed that the thing in Fred's garden was really Obake.

* * *

Okay, Nox had liked this place to start with, but now he hated it.

It wasn't anything wrong with the place _per se_, as 'Dashi would say—there was lots to explore and the _walls_ were tall and felt like they kept everything bad out but felt like they held the sky far away that wasn't a problem if you weren't next to them though and there were plenty of places to hide and trees to climb like he had yesterday when he _had_ to get out of here and find 'Dashi and get away from Not-Dashi's-Hiro—

That was the problem.

Not-Dashi's-Hiro because that was _not_ 'Dashi's Hiro 'Dashi's Hiro would have wings and feathers and would be nice and like 'Dashi because they were brothers but they'd be like Nox too because _I ever tell you you remind me of my little brother Hiro?_

_That_ was not 'Dashi's Hiro, because 'Dashi's Hiro would _not_ be mean like that, 'Dashi's Hiro would be helping him find 'Dashi he'd be searching and looking and helping Nox find him because he'd be missing 'Dashi desperately too instead of saying he was _gone_ he was _not gone_ gone was like those olders that had left ages and ages and ages and _ages_ ago, gone was saying you didn't think of them anymore because they weren't a part of your life anymore, 'Dashi was _very much_ a part of his life 'Dashi was good and safe and older-brother and knew-everything and protective and 'Dashi was _NOT. GONE._

And then that weird way Not-Dashi's-Hiro had reacted, scared and snarling and mean and wanting nothing to do with Nox and making him uncomfortable he had no idea where that had come from sure he had snarled but he was upset because this place beyond the walls wasn't good it was terrible and inside the walls wasn't much better because it _didn't have 'Dashi_ and he wanted 'Dashi he wanted 'Dashi and Lena and Della and Webby and Huey and Dewey and Louie and Violet and even Mei and the other youngers and 'Kase and the other olders he'd take Grump at this point he didn't want to keep being around these strange wingless naked not-them not-flock not-flight this was awful and he _hated it._

He was currently curled up under a bush and watching Not-Dashi's-Hiro talking with _Fred_ (try under his breath, still _Fwah_ Fwah was a better name anyway it worked better with their language), the marshmallow-thing that was _Baymax_ listening and moving a paw occasionally before waddling away to look over the _garden_ that's what they called this place sometimes _backyard_ sometimes _garden_ it was like all the best parts of the _forest_ and _hills_ mixed together on a flat plane and he hated the fact that he couldn't enjoy it because no one was here with him to share it and romp around and make new games with everything there was _fish_ in the water but what good was _fish_ when there was no one around to play games with he wanted 'Dashi he wanted everyone but especially 'Dashi 'Dashi was good and safe—

Not-Dashi's-Hiro was looking over the garden now, scowling—he wanted to scowl back, even hidden, but that expression made his stomach turn over painfully because even though that was _not_ 'Dashi's Hiro but it looked like it _should_ be 'Dashi's Hiro and he had been looking forward to 'Dashi's Hiro because he was expecting something like himself and something like 'Dashi and that was _neither of those things_ but at the same time—

He curled up on himself, looking away and flattening his ears, trying to get that queasy feeling out of his stomach, feeling like he had drank too much water on not enough food he wasn't hungry he just missed 'Dashi he missed everyone but 'Dashi especially he missed 'Dashi so much it _hurt_ and that was awful because he had nothing like a _cut_ or a _bruise_ or a _snap-pain-bend-WRONG_ like Della had and like his wing had it was deep inside and radiated out to his wingtips and it wouldn't go away he wanted 'Dashi _please—_

_Wiff-wiff-wiff-wiff_ noises made him look up—saw Baymax the marshmallow-thing that felt like 'Dashi but wasn't leaning over him, blinking as he looked him over.

_"Hello,"_ he said. _"I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion. My neurosensors indicate that you are: distressed. Is there any way I can be of assistance?"_

No, because he wasn't 'Dashi and he wanted 'Dashi but he _felt_ like 'Dashi and Not-Dashi's-Hiro had said that 'Dashi was _gone_ but that wasn't right 'Dashi was coming he had to be Dashi was safe and good and older-brother and he wasn't going to leave him he couldn't—

Baymax was still waiting for an answer—maybe—maybe he could try.

"'Dashi," he said, shuffling a little to face Baymax better. _Use your words_—that's what 'Dashi kept saying, he hated using _words_ but if they got him 'Dashi—"Want 'Dashi."

Baymax blinked, straightened up, looked around—looked back down at him.

_"Tadashi: is not here,"_ Baymax said, causing Nox to hunch up on himself he could see that for himself—_"However, my scanner is at a: reduced capacity when outside of my armor, and for safety purposes, I cannot summon my armor myself."_ He held up a clawless finger. _"I would have to be mobile in order to search the city."_

This wasn't making any sense—blink at Baymax offering a paw.

_"Would: looking for Tadashi, improve your mental health?"_ Baymax asked.

Nox stared at the paw, at the white thing offering it—"'Dashi?" he asked, not daring to hope—they'd get out of here, out there and looking—"'Dashi—'Dashi yes 'Dashi?" he asked, taking the white paw. Baymax tugged him up, led him to a different part of the garden, against the _wall_ by the nest—looked it over before pushing something that made the section of _wall_ swing open.

Nox followed, keeping his hand in Baymax's paw—he felt like 'Dashi he wasn't 'Dashi but he felt like 'Dashi and that was good and they were going to find 'Dashi that was even better—looked up at his beady black eyes when they stopped, Baymax looking around and blinking.

_"Tadashi: is not here,"_ Baymax announced, before leading him down the rock-trail. _"We will keep looking."_

Good.


	35. Commiseration

**Chapter 35, everybody! And I think in my writing up on this I might be getting close to having it entirely written out…might bump it up to posting twice a week once that happens but in the meantime know that we have updates clean into the new year. :D**

**Continuing blanket disclaimer: I still have not finished Season Two. We're flying blind, boys. Still keeping up with Season 3, though, and…I don't like the musical numbers why do they keep having musical numbers in this show it's not even High Voltage doing them. :\ And again, a good chunk of these chapters were written before I had been able to bring myself to watch "Countdown to Catastrophe"…and in other news, yes I'm still in denial of the end of "Countdown to Catastrophe" don't at me. D:**

**Again, I am aware that Obake's behavior was entirely problematic, but he's still my favorite character in the series and I'm still holding out for a surprise reappearance. In other news, Fred is quoting Nick Fury from the _Ultimate Spider-Man_ comics, and I have been holding onto that desperately with this series because Obake may be a piece of work but dang I miss him. ;^;/ Also, speaking of doing a lot of this before watching any of Season 2 or the Season 1 finale…the teaser at the end of "Obake Yashiki" made me think that Obake used fake!Tadashi to lure Hiro away so he could swap out the chips—it made sense to me since he already knew where Hiro lived, and I still like the concept better than Noodle Burger Boy being the one to do it during a fight (also, it would explain how he got those videos of Tadashi).**

**The bits with Nox and Baymax were again parts written before even a good chunk of the previous chapters**—**at some point I started writing Part II while still working on Part I so I didn't lose track of everything—pretty sure we'll be catching up to where I was when the two met in several chapters. ^v^**

**In other news, Tadashi is referencing the _Librarians_ TV show and Hiro is referencing the _Ultimate Spider-Man_ TV show and I highly recommend both. Also, Professor Granville is quoting Aunt May from _Spider-Man 2_—love that trilogy. :D Fred, meanwhile, is citing the Clone Wars saga from _Spider-Man_, which was honestly a whole convoluted mess and I'm not sure if the condensed version in the _Ultimate Spider-Man_ comic is an improvement. :\**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Yes, Baymax! Best robot companion and most huggable to boot! :D Yeah bird-kids plus s'mores would equal a total mess. XD And _AAAAAH thank you I'm glad you like!_ :D Nox's scenes there were some of the first ones written for this second part so I'm glad you loved it. :D**

**Hexyah, thanks for the review! Yes it will….**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

Nox decided that his first impression of this place that wasn't _desert_ and wasn't _forest_—his first impression that it was big and amazing and pretty and maybe a little familiar—was wrong, or at least only right when he was flying high over everything.

Because like the last time he was out of the Fwah-nest, the _garden_ and _backyard_ that they called it, it was nasty and noisy and too many smells and noises and colors all at once and it made him want to scream and fly away and he _couldn't_ fly away because of his wing but he _wanted to_ but he wanted 'Dashi which meant he had to stay here and he hated it hated it hated it—

He stayed plastered to Baymax's side, tried to climb up on him a couple of times, but his skin had no feathers and was slippery and his claws couldn't get any traction on him and they _still_ hadn't found 'Dashi and he hated that and he hated _walking_ especially on two legs and this ground was _awful_ it had no give and it caught at his claws and made them sore and made his feet sore and pawing at his ear with his free hand wasn't making the noise any better and pulling part of his _sweater_ up wasn't making the smells go away and he _hated it._ Start tugging on Baymax's paw, keening—

Baymax stopped, blinked at him. _"You are distressed,"_ he observed. _"Would you like to return to Fred's house?"_

No—no no no they hadn't found 'Dashi yet but he hated it here but he wanted 'Dashi but his feet hurt and his ears ached and his stomach was starting to rumble but he couldn't eat because all the smells made him want to never eat again—sit down hard, start curling up on himself, keening starting to take on a ragged edge—

Baymax's paw slipped out of his—no no no don't leave him—

Baymax scooped him up, startling him into abrupt silence—he was leaning against Baymax's chest, one of Baymax's arms underneath to provide some support even though his claws kept slipping, other arm wrapped around him and patting his head. Just like 'Dashi—so much like 'Dashi it _hurt—_

_"There, there,"_ Baymax noised, before blinking, looking around, and waddling off in a direction. _"We will try a different approach."_

The _different approach_ saw them sitting in a smelly box that moved and felt weird but outside was streaming by as fast as if they were flying and every once in a while it made a loud _CLANG-CLANG_ noise that made Nox bury his face against Baymax's side—Baymax couldn't hold him while sitting in this box, but Nox could sit next to him on the narrow perch and plaster himself as close as he could, claws squeaking against Baymax's skin, tail curled up tight, one of Baymax's arms draped around him and protecting him from the _peoples_ without feathers staring.

"What is _that_?" one of the no-feathered _peoples_ asked.

Baymax blinked, looked down at Nox, back up at her. _"Feathery baby."_

Nox buried his face against Baymax's side again—he smelled _clean-clean_, almost too clean, like that awful place that 'Dashi had gotten him out of, but he also smelled of Not-Dashi's-Hiro and good smells that made his stomach rumble again he wanted food he wanted 'Dashi he wanted _away_ from this place he wanted back to the woods _forest_ was nice and interesting except when it _rained_ and rained and rained he wanted 'Dashi—

_"You are hungry,"_ Baymax observed. _"Would you like to return to Fred's house?"_

Shake his head, face squeaking against Baymax's skin—no, no no no he wanted 'Dashi and 'Dashi wasn't _there_ he had to be out here somewhere he wanted 'Dashi 'Dashi would make everything better 'Dashi would get him away from this nasty place with the too many smells and sounds and _peoples_ with no feathers and set that stupid Not-Dashi's-Hiro straight and tell him not to glare at Nox and 'Dashi _wasn't GONE _'Dashi _had_ to be here somewhere he wanted 'Dashi—

Baymax blinked, looked around, didn't push the issue, patted him on the head when he started hiccupping a little. _"There, there. It is all right."_

No it wasn't, because 'Dashi wasn't here—he wanted 'Dashi, he wanted Webby and Lena and Violet and Huey and Dewey and Louie and Della and 'Kase and everyone else it had been ages and ages and ages since he saw them they didn't think he went away like those others did ages and ages and ages ago did they? They'd remember him and want him back, wouldn't they?

_'Dashi_ would want him back, wouldn't he?...

That thought crushed him, made him feel like he had fallen so far and broken his wing all over again—curl up tight against Baymax, trying to hold his keen in if he started crying that meant he believed it and he didn't believe it he _wouldn't_ believe that 'Dashi would just _forget _him just _leave_ him—

_I'll find you, okay? I'll find you!_

_Tadashi's gone and he's never coming back!_

'Dashi _had_ to fly away because those monsters were attacking him and he had to make sure they didn't get Nox that was why he left he wasn't _gone_ he'd be back he'd be looking for Nox and Nox had to find him because he was good and older-brother and safe and he wouldn't leave him forever he'd be back he had to be—

Baymax's skin felt warmer now, alerting him to the fact that he had been shivering—let out one or two distressed noises, trying to get the pressure out of his chest—started keening no stop no—

Baymax hugged him close, patting his head. _"There, there. It is all right."_

No it wasn't—no it wasn't, it hadn't been right for _ages_ and ages and ages he wanted 'Dashi and 'Dashi _wasn't here_ and what if he was never going to be here ever again _no—_

It felt like forever before he finally stopped, when his insides felt wrung out like he had seen 'Dashi and Sue and Beth do to _towels_ and _clothes_, when his eyes felt itchy and his nose and throat felt awful and clogged and 'Dashi _still wasn't here_ and nothing was better he wanted 'Dashi he wanted him so much it hurt—

Baymax was still hugging him, Baymax was still patting him on the head and warm and making soothing noises Baymax wasn't 'Dashi though even though he _felt_ like 'Dashi—

_"You are stressed,"_ Baymax said. _"After crying, it is recommended that you drink at least: one glass of water, and eat: comfort foods, such as crackers."_ Look up, around, blinking. _"We will get off at the next stop, so I may attend to your healthcare needs."_

He didn't know what any of that meant he didn't feel like eating he was never ever going to be able to eat ever again he just wanted 'Dashi _please_—

Baymax started quietly singing something soothing—it was definitely Baymax it was coming from him—he wanted 'Dashi he had to find 'Dashi…but he was _exhausted_, he was tired, his eyelids were heavy…just….

* * *

Tadashi knew he should probably be getting some sleep, not sitting up and blearily going over how everything had gone so wrong so quickly.

They were currently hiding under the Golden Gate Bridge, clinging to each other to make sure they didn't fall off their perch—he had joked there was a door to the Annex somewhere around there, but they had neither the energy nor the desire to look up that reference. 'Kase especially seemed exhausted, and part of him wanted to just attribute it to having to expend more energy to fly now that her feathers had been trimmed by her original.

Except there was something else, something about the bay specifically—her, Grump, Nox…what had happened here?

Actually you know what he wasn't getting any sleep anyway—let's start off with the fact that she had actually _fought_ her original how did that even go down anyway? He knew if _he_ had that suddenly driven home that hard he'd have problems, even without the concept that the original Tadashi Hamada was probably burnt to a crisp thanks to Callaghan _don'tthinkaboutit—_

_Seeing himself come bursting out of the trees, slamming into him and screeching like a feral animal—_

_"Oh hon, monsters don't have families."_

Huff out a big gust of air, hating to think of that possibility—yes, he had promised 'Kase he wouldn't worry about it until San Fransokyo, and yes they were in San Fransokyo, but he had other things to worry about right now besides the gene cleansers that were with the others by now.

Things like Nox still being missing.

They should head right back to the others tonight, 'Kase was having a hard time flying and maybe, just _maybe_, Nox was with them—but what if he wasn't? A sinking squirming feeling deep in the pit of his stomach was suggesting that he wasn't, that he was still somewhere in San Fransokyo, scared out of his mind and alone—and that was the _best_-case scenario. Worst-case saw him captured, dead—

A victim of that monster from last night—

A fresh twist of guilt there—he should have at least _tried_, tried to do _something_ for that guy last night, not let himself get led away, not basically _run_—

_Hiro needs you. Nox needs you. You would have been caught and had who-knew-what done to you._

This was true, it was definitely a true thing…but it didn't stop him from feeling sick to his stomach, to knowing he had picked someone to throw under the bus…he should have _tried,_ dangit!

_Like you tried with Callaghan—how'd that turn out, by the way? Think Hiro appreciated you making that choice?_

No, stop it—he couldn't afford to keep second-guessing everything, second-guessing a core tenet of his life, that someone had to help—

_"The way you remember yourself, is that the way you are? Is the way you remember yourself the way you act, or do you have to work at it?"_

…he didn't need that moment to shatter his shaky hopes.

"I can feel you worrying about everything," 'Kase muttered, head still resting on his shoulder and not opening her eyes.

"S-sorry," he managed—yelped in pain when she pinched him. "Do you _mind!?"_

"I told you about saying that."

"Well sorry for—OW!"

"I'm going to keep doing this until you quit."

"Okay that's it get off."

"No," she said, hugging him tighter. "Because I get the feeling that if I do you're just going to do that whole _beleaguered hero_ thing and that really gets old."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

Silence for a long beat.

"He wanted to stay behind," she told him, voice sad, almost—enough to make him pull back and look at her, note her eyes on the water.

It was enough to get him to glance down at the beach, at where the strange debris was polluting the strandline—

_"Something happened here."_

"What happened here?" he asked, looking at her. "I mean…I feel like you would know more than me."

Silence—she was looking out at the bay now, not at him.

"There was this guy," she said finally. "He broke my original out of prison, offered her a job…I don't remember a whole lot after that, just that things went south…and she's not sure if he's dead or not."

Tadashi wasn't sure how to respond to that—okay, the combo of _breaking someone out of prison_ and _'Kase's original is a dangerous knife-wielding thief_ made him think that this wasn't exactly a nice guy…except….

"And that bothers you," he tried.

She huffed a sigh. "Let's say it does, a little—I was…before you came along, I kept wondering why he didn't come bail me out again—y-you know, when I still thought I was—when I still thought I was her. And now…." Sigh again, looking away. "Seeing it now…w-when…when we were still in that—that prison…early on I told Grump I wouldn't be stuck there, that someone would get me out.

"Grump just gave me this—it was almost pity—just looked at me and said _'he won't come—he wanted to stay behind.'"_ Felt her wiping at her face. "I-I don't know why that bothers me."

Tadashi rubbed between her shoulder blades, thinking. "You were hoping for someone you thought was a friend…and now you're not sure if he's alive." Rest his chin on her head. "It's okay to feel bad about that."

_"No,_ it's _not,"_ she said, balling her hands into fists against his chest. "It's—it's stupid, okay?"

"Yeah, sure—like constantly worrying that I'm not the real Tadashi Hamada is stupid. Like constantly worrying about the gene cleansers or Nox or something happening to anyone is stupid. It's not stupid to care about people, 'Kase."

She made a sort of congested sniff, like someone trying to keep from crying by sheer force of will.

"I was hoping," she said quietly—so quietly Tadashi nearly didn't hear her. "That if everything else didn't work out…I figured _he'd_ still be interested, wouldn't care about the feathers. But that's…it doesn't matter. It's all gone."

He hesitated, unused to this level of emotion from her—

Hugged her tight.

"I'm still here," he said, voice thick. "I'm still here, I'm not going anywhere, I'm going to help you no matter what, okay? We're friends, and that's what friends do."

She made a little hiccupping noise. "You've got a real hero complex, you know that?"

He pulled away a little, ducked down to look her in the eye, pushed some of her hair back, hating to see her looking so miserable.

"It's more like a friend complex," he told her. "And friends don't leave each other high and dry."

She smiled weakly at him, still soaked in that deep-seated misery and hurt that he had been in before, ages ago now, in a cabin during a rainy night when his whole world went sideways, beyond that of finding himself as a bird-person.

When he had that horrible realization that nothing would be waiting for him.

She rested her head against his chest, sank against him—he hugged her close, rocking a little when he felt her shaking again, wing wrapping around her with little thought as to the action.

"You'll always be the real Tadashi Hamada to me," she murmured, sounding like her emotional exhaustion was finally getting the best of her.

He froze, hating that thought—the thought that all this was for naught, that he had put everyone in danger for something that had never been, that he had been killing himself for a family that wasn't his to begin with….

The same sort of things 'Kase was going through, that she had been pushing aside for so long only to have it shoved in her face _hard_ just a few hours ago. The same sort of thing he might be seeing, honestly.

He sagged against her, trying to get comfort and commiseration to soak through from him to her, to emphasize that neither of them were alone, not really—

"And you're the only 'Kase in my books," he told her, trying to keep back tears.

It took a long time to finally fall into a troubled sleep.

* * *

Hiro knew that he had been walking around in a daze—not sleeping in two days did that to a person.

Having the shock of your life also did that to a person.

_That wasn't him couldn't be him but having gone from being almost convinced he was gone to suddenly seeing his face he couldn't—_

_"Mr. Hamada."_

_"UHHI'm awake!"_ Hiro blurted, sitting up fast enough to send his pencil flying—grimaced at the snickers being silenced by a stern glance from Professor Granville.

"Is the class material not diverting enough, Mr. Hamada?" she asked, returning her attention to him.

"What? No—yes! Ah—th-there was a…thing last night, kept me up…." Trailed off, sinking into his seat as he registered how lame that sounded.

Professor Granville arched an eyebrow, went back to the front of the classroom. "See me after class, Mr. Hamada."

Hiro did his best to keep his groan silent as he sank the rest of the way into his seat, doing his best to ignore Karmi smirking at him.

_Great._

* * *

Hiro tried very, _very_ hard not to panic as the other students filed out of the room, looked anywhere but at Karmi when she walked by. Yes, he knew that was being obvious but darnit he wasn't giving her the satisfaction of knowing he saw the triumphant look she was giving him he was _not—_

"Mr. Hamada."

Oog.

Get up, mince up to her desk, already sorting through his available excuses—finally decided to spin the reel and go with whatever he got.

"So uh—cats! Neighborhood cats, really noisy…." Ugh that was lame.

Her expression suggested that as well. "Mr. Hamada, I am aware that your extracurricular activities require your attention at odd hours; it just wouldn't be fair for me to excuse your behavior in class publicly. I _would_ heavily recommend learning how to budget your time better to avoid further incidents such as this."

Hiro twitched, ice soaking his innards before his mind properly recalled that yes, Professor Granville knew about Big Hero Six, had known about Big Hero Six and just seen fit to let them in on it when the circumstances of the second Great Catastrophe forced everyone's hands.

She knew the man who had been behind that, too.

_"He was a former student of mine—brilliant, much like yourself—and like a fool I thought he would do better without limits."_

_Him talking about those limits—about his morals, his family—like they were just annoying obstacles that were getting in the way—_

Hiro sighed, clenching his fists and lowering his head.

"I'm sorry, Professor Granville," he said, not looking at her. "I've just—been having a really hard time sleeping the past couple of nights…past couple of weeks."

Looked up to find her expression had softened—of course, she had been hit hard by that as well.

_"You don't…happen to know…if there was a chance…."_

_"No, Professor, I don't."_

She'd probably be better off not knowing about the bird-kid, he decided.

"I see," she said, standing and crossing over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder _don't twitch at that it's not her fault the memory it stokes is fresh—_

"Hiro," she said—wow this _was_ serious—"It's okay. this is more than any young man would reasonably be expected to handle."

"Yeah, I know, it's just—" Deep breath, bracing himself against the flood of memories, of emotion the next statement always brought. "Someone has to help."

"I understand," she told him. "But you're not Superman. You have your limits, Hiro—please, respect them."

_"We push the limits of what can be done here—"_

_"Imagine a world without limits, Hiro—Icarus didn't fail because he flew too close to the sun, he failed because he didn't have the right tools for the job."_

Shake his head, trying to dislodge those thoughts. "I'll work on it, Professor."

"Please do," she said, leading him out the classroom and into the hall. "Start with going to your lab and at least _trying_ to get some rest—even five minutes makes a difference. After that, work on your studies, take your mind off things."

Hiro spotted movement behind her, glanced—

"Uh!" he said quickly. "You know what—that's a point, that's a very fair point and I should probably be doing that now—uh, right now. So uh…."

Granville seemed like she couldn't decide between exasperated and amused. "On your way then, Mr. Hamada."

"Sure! Uh, thanks!"

"And remember—_no running in the halls!"_

"Not running—just—super-excited to get back to work!" Hiro said, slowing his pace until he rounded the corner and was out of her sight—

And then taking off after the marshmallow robot he had seen waddling this way.

"Baymax!" he burst out, catching up with Baymax just as he made the turn into the labs. "What are you—why are you—why is _he_ here!?" he squawked, spotting what Baymax was carrying.

Baymax blinked at him, at the bird-kid-that-was-also-Obake, back up at Hiro.

_"We have been searching for: Tadashi,"_ Baymax announced. _"As it would improve his mental health."_

"What? Baymax, _no_—Tadashi's—Tadashi's _gone,_ remember?"

It killed him every time he had to say that—every time he had to acknowledge that—but he didn't need this, didn't need those old ghosts—

Grab a stool and haul it over, climb up it and check Baymax's chip bay, as he had been nearly every time Baymax had been out of his sight for more than ten seconds—still the two chips, Tadashi's green health-care one and his superhero chip. Shot a glare down at the—the _thing_ sleeping in Baymax's arms, one foot and its tail dangling—

No—no that wasn't fair, he had been more than willing to help this—this bird-person-thing before finding out who had been sampled for the genetic cocktail that made him—this wasn't—this wasn't _him_, although he might have had some of his memory in swiss-cheese fashion—exact duplicates were beyond cloning technology. This was exactly what he thought in the beginning: some kid that had been experimented on, that hadn't asked for any of this to happen, that was dazed and confused and terrified because all this was beyond him. He might have some concept of Hiro, some of Tadashi from the events of Halloween, but no matter how hard anyone tried, it would still be someone else's memories layered into a different mind—it was why cloning had been declared unethical—

_"Hiro,"_ Baymax declared. _"You are getting distressed."_

Hiro had been _staying_ distressed lately.

"I'm sorry," he said, resting his head against Baymax's chest. "I just—with everything that's happened—and now this, and _him_, and…and I can't keep…I can't keep having…I just can't."

Baymax actually seemed a little distressed at being unable to hug Hiro without waking the bird-kid up. _"I would recommend: comfort foods, and talking about your feelings. We can do that in your lab."_

"Fair enough," Hiro said, straightening himself up and wiping at his nose. "Let me go pick something up."

The trip to the vending machines and back felt like they were done in a haze, and when he got back to his lab it was to find that Baymax had put the bird-kid on the couch against the wall.

Baymax hugged him as soon as he came close, patting his head. _"There, there."_

"Thanks, Baymax," Hiro muttered into the vinyl before pushing himself free. "So…does Fred know you two were—"

His phone rang—checked it, answered it. "Hi Fred."

_"Yo Hiro! Look, not to cause any alarm, but—"_

"They're with me, Fred."

_"Oh good—man I was about to have a moment,"_ Fred sighed—Hiro could picture him rubbing his chest.

"Yeah, well now I get the joy of getting them _back_ across town—"

_"Hey no prob! Heathcliff and I will be right over—wait, where are we going?"_

"SFIT—I'm in—_we're_ in the labs," Hiro said.

_"Cool-cool-cool—we'll be over in a jiffy! Which, you know, makes me wonder what a jiffy is—"_

_"Bye,_ Fred," Hiro said, hanging up—sigh when he spotted Baymax holding a swivel chair and patting the seat. "Fine, fine…."

Baymax looked around as Hiro sat down, tried to sit in a swivel chair—that failed utterly—eased himself to the floor and leaned against a cabinet in his 'Baymax the Psychologist' pose.

_"Hiro,"_ Baymax declared, after Hiro had opened his bag of chips and had his moment of silence. _"You have been distressed. Can you tell me why?"_

"Yeah, I could," Hiro said, eating a few chips—he really didn't want to do this.

Baymax blinked. _"Will you?"_

Ugh.

"I…I don't know," Hiro said, eating another chip. "I-I mean—with everything that happened—there's a lot that happened in the past year, you know?"

_"I do,"_ Baymax confirmed. _"But even talking about one thing could improve your mental health."_

Hiro wanted to call baloney on this, but Baymax had done this psychology-bit before—he'd insist Hiro share _something_ before he'd let Hiro off the hook—

There was a muted noise coming from the bird-kid—he glanced over to see him curled up, muscles around his eyes twitching, feet kicking a little.

"Fine—_him,"_ Hiro said finally, gesturing a little. "Him and everything he brought with him—the guy they cloned to _get_ him—he walked right into our _house,_ Baymax! Waltzed right in and reprogrammed you—" Hesitate, suddenly needed to—

Baymax tapped his chip bay, opening it and showing the two chips that were supposed to be there.

"Thanks, Baymax," Hiro said, sagging. "I just—he knew _every single_ facet of my life, every in and out—he was playing us from the second we crossed his path, and—and I'm not convinced he's…gone, you know? I feel like he's just going to—to show up one day, and—" Glance at the bird-kid. "And—and yesterday, when he did that—I-I've been—_expecting_ to see him again, bracing for it, and—I wasn't ready for that." Sag. "And—and that kid—I have to just—I have to keep telling myself he's just a kid, that he's not _him_—h-he keeps talking about—about Tadashi and—and I can't keep…I can't keep…it just—it hurts, you know? It hurts to—to have someone who looks like _him_—bringing up…bringing up…."

He buried his face in his hands—he didn't need this, didn't need to be having a breakdown with Fred on the way—he should be focusing on his schoolwork, on trying to stop the monsters that kept invading the city—some bird-kid was just one blip on the whole swarm, he shouldn't—

Baymax was up and hugging him. _"There, there,"_ he noised, patting Hiro's head. _"Do you feel improved for sharing those concerns?"_

Hiro had to think about it. "Maybe," he muttered into the vinyl. "And…and I guess I really shouldn't be blaming that kid—he's not…he's not _him,_ but…."

_"You experienced a shock,"_ Baymax said. _"It is natural to lash out after such a strong emotional moment."_

"Yeah…that doesn't make it right, though."

_"It does not,"_ Baymax agreed. _"But it is natural."_

Ugh, make sense, why don't you.

"Okay," Hiro said, standing and extricating himself from the hug. "Fred's coming over, and we still haven't figured out what to do with _him_," he added, indicating the bird-kid. "Why were you two even out of Fred's backyard? You were supposed to _stay there."_

_"He is also emotionally distressed,"_ Baymax said. _"Searching for: Tadashi, is theoretically supposed to improve his mental health."_

He'd be searching for a long time.

"You're not going to find him, Baymax," Hiro said, looking the kid over sadly. "What—what he's looking for is from someone trying to put memories that aren't his in. There's…there's nothing to find."

Even as he said it, something prickled at the back of his mind—Obake had been obsessive, totally obsessive….

Wouldn't that have meant he'd have some sort of recognition, upon seeing Hiro, upon seeing Baymax, upon seeing Big Hero Six? Even if he had memories that weren't his, he would have had a moment where he recognized them….

He didn't want to think of the implications of that.

_"My scans the past few nights did pick up a familiar signature,"_ Baymax declared. _"Tadashi is here."_

Hiro stared at him. "Baymax," he said slowly. "Tadashi _died_ in the fire."

But—no. No, no, no, it wasn't possible—where would they have gotten the DNA—

But they had Obake, had _his_ DNA—it wasn't too farfetched to think they had gotten it from him, or gone through his data and—

He suddenly felt very cold.

_"Hiro,"_ Baymax said, arms already out—

"Baymax," Hiro said, voice squeaking. "You don't think—they didn't—" Eyes found Tadashi's old hat. "You don't think they—they _cloned_ Tadashi—do you? L-like Fred's been saying?"

Baymax rested a hand on his back, blinking. _"I do not know."_ Blink. _"You should sit down."_

Yeah—yeah he really should—grab for the chair, let himself be sat down—if they had—if they had _cloned_ Tadashi—

…It wouldn't be Tadashi. It wouldn't be the _real_ Tadashi, no matter how many of his old memories they tried to get in there, if they could at all—it would be like that bird-kid on the couch right now: a kid that had the genetic makeup of the person, but not the person themselves.

And seeing Obake's face again had been enough of a shock—he wasn't sure he could handle seeing Tadashi's again.

Especially if that face was attached to a stranger.

Hiro sighed, forced himself to take several deep breaths—blinked at the bird-kid again, still twitching and expression saying he was having a nightmare.

"Um—hold on, Baymax," Hiro said, getting up and crossing over to the bird-kid—he had had enough horrid nightmares to know that no one wanted to be in one. Gently shake the kid's shoulder, mindful of the claws—"Hey, wake up. Hey! _Hey! Wake up!"_

The bird-kid flailed awake, squawking—Hiro fell back, the kid got traction under his feet—ran smack into the cabinet Baymax had been leaning against—fell back, curling up into a bundle and making distressed noises as he rubbed his head.

Baymax leaned over him. _"On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?"_

Hiro stood, watched as the bird-kid started processing his surroundings, getting his feet under him and backing up into a corner, feathers puffed out, eyes wide, making a low keening noise that made his heart feel like someone was scratching chalkboards inside.

Hiro waved a little to get attention on him, gingerly lowered himself to the floor as Baymax announced _"I will scan you now—"_

"Look, I'm—I'm sorry, okay? For yesterday?" Hiro tried—he could still see the broad strokes of a man he hated, but he couldn't see _him_ anymore—Obake had always stayed on top and in control; he would never put himself in a position of weakness like this.

The bird-kid bunched up in a ball, not answering him. Hiro considered…reached into his pocket and pulled out the piece of Fred's chandelier, that the kid had snatched and given back, gingerly pushed it over.

"I'm sorry," Hiro repeated, when he saw eyes peeking through feathers. "You just—you reminded me of someone I knew and—and I wasn't expecting it. And…and it's not your fault, but I've been acting like it is, so…can you forgive me?"

Hesitation—_long_ hesitation. Hiro backed up a little, giving him space…the bird-kid finally took the chandelier piece, flinched a little when Hiro shook the bag of chips.

"No, no—it's food," Hiro said, taking a chip out and eating it to demonstrate. "You want some?"

Those weird feathered ears were pinned back still, nose was twitching—Hiro flinched when he snatched the bag away, tried not to laugh at the way he was suddenly distracted by the sounds of the bag—

Baymax planted a hand on the bird-kid's head. _"A: cold compress, will reduce any swelling to your injury."_

The kid went from a little floored to eyes closed and looking like he was enjoying life, at least temporarily; yes, Hiro was having a hard time seeing the face of a man he hated now.

_It was stupid,_ he thought._ It was stupid and it was awful—who would even do such a thing?_

He knew he knew the answer: Liv Amara and Sycorax—he was a hundred-percent certain she was behind the monsters, that she was behind everything—he just needed to be able to prove it. This was the biggest sort of accusation anyone could level, and to do that he needed proof.

He had proof, he realized: sitting in front of him and shuffling closer to Baymax—a genetically-modified clone. Except…no. For anyone to buy it, the kid would have to be able to testify, first—and then no one would take the word of a genetic experiment. Their existence was banned as unethical, but as far as he knew under current laws they had no rights—why would something that wasn't even supposed to exist have _rights_, after all? And it would be like Gogo said, he'd be euthanized if brought before an ethics board or any sort of situation where he could bring up charges against Sycorax—and like Honey Lemon said, that just wasn't an option.

Hiro rubbed at his face, thinking—there had to be a way, _some_ way to—

_What if they had cloned Tadashi?_

_Want 'Dashi._

What if…what if there were more?

"Yo dudes!"

Hiro and Baymax quickly shushed Fred as he came in, keeping an eye on the bird-kid that had flinched mightily at the sudden noise, eyes snapping back open.

"Oops, sorry," Fred whispered, sitting backwards in the swivel chair Hiro had vacated and toeing over. "So how is he?"

"He woke up from a nap and ran smack into a cabinet," Hiro reported.

"Dude, harshness."

Hiro waved him off. "Anyway, before you got here—I was thinking…if…if _this_ kid is a clone of…you know—"

"Then we're looking at something on the level of the Spider-Man clone wars and we should be prepared!" Fred said, fists pumped, game face on, keeping his volume muted only by sheer force of will, Hiro was sure.

"Uh, no, I—what?"

"Okay, crash-course is that the Spider-Man clone wars was a real convoluted way to justify bringing Gwen Stacy back, covers a few years, but the long and short of it is a bad guy clones Spider-Man a couple of times and it gets weird from there—original Spider-Man thought _he_ was a clone, even—"

"Okay, so _maybe_," Hiro said, waving to get him to stop and knowing that it would kill Gogo to have to play by Fred's comic logic. "Because if _he_ keeps asking for Tadashi—"

Fred inhaled sharply. "You think they cloned Tadashi. I mean I know I said it but still."

"I think it's a possibility."

"Dude," Fred said, leaning back—and then falling, because apparently he had forgotten he was sitting in the chair backwards.

Baymax blinked at him, leaned over. _"You have fallen."_

"I'm okay!" Fred managed, giving Baymax a thumbs-up.

Hiro shook his head, ignored Baymax giving Fred the once-over, turned his attention instead to the bird-kid plastered in the corner again, curled up and shaking.

"Hey," Hiro said gently, easing over. "Listen—maybe—maybe we can help you. There's others, like you, right?" Wide eyes were peeking out of feathers again. "Maybe we can find them—maybe we can—" He had to stop, take a moment—"Maybe we can…maybe we can help you find 'Dashi?"

Using the shortening the kid had been using meant it wasn't _Ta_dashi, meant it wasn't him because it couldn't be—

Hiro was entirely unprepared for the bird-kid tackling him in a hug, chittering _yes 'Dashi yes yes_ rapidly and hanging on for dear life.

"Okay okay! Get off!" Hiro squawked, trying to peel the kid off. "And be quiet, okay? I don't think Professor Granville would be thrilled about a—some bird-kid—" and the fact that she, too, would most likely recognize him didn't help. "C'mon, off—Baymax, _help."_

"So what's the plan?" Fred asked, as Baymax tried to pull the kid off of Hiro.

"We get the others and suit up," Hiro said, trying to unhook the fingernail-claws from his hoodie. "And then we start looking. If Sycorax is making clones, and made more than one…we might finally be able to take them down."

"'Dashi," the bird-kid said.

"Yeah, that's the plan, now let go."

The bird-kid did so, finally—dug in a fold of his sweater, pause a moment, looking like he was debating something—

Held out a rock to Hiro, chirping.

"Um…thanks? I think?" Hiro noised, accepting it—it was round, kind of flat, very shiny and smooth, fit easily in the palm of his hand. Smiled a little at the bird-kid's hopeful look, pocketed it—had to extricate himself from a hug again. "No wait _this isn't helping—"_

"Yes it is it's good bonding," Fred insisted.

_"I have contacted the others,"_ Baymax announced. _"They should be here shortly."_

"Right," Hiro muttered, finally succeeding in freeing himself. "Let's go."


	36. Searching

**Chapter 36, everybody! And I think in my writing up on this I might be getting close to having it entirely written out…might bump it up to posting twice a week once that happens but in the meantime know that we have updates clean into the new year. :D**

**Continuing blanket disclaimer: I still have not finished Season Two. We're flying blind, boys. Still keeping up with Season 3, though, and…I don't like the musical numbers why do they keep having musical numbers in this show it's not even High Voltage doing them. :\ And again, a good chunk of these chapters were written before I had been able to bring myself to watch "Countdown to Catastrophe"…and in other news, yes I'm still in denial of the end of "Countdown to Catastrophe" don't at me. D:**

**In that vein…this chapter was one of those that were written ahead, and written when all I knew of the episode "Muira-Horror" was Ned's monster form on the commercials. So…unique approach time. :D Also, if you've been following me on Tumblr you've seen a snipped from this chapter sometime last year. Yes, it's been in the books for quite some time. :D**

**Had "Lost in the Woods" from the _A.I.: Artificial Intelligence_ soundtrack playing on repeat when writing the limo scene—great music, lousy movie. :\ Also uh…so there's birds shown in Muirahara Woods but part of the story demands for this AU is that Bessie affects magnetic fields (since strong magnetic fields would disrupt technology) which would also affect birds. It's something that's a major plot point with flecks in the _Guardians of Ga'Hoole_ series, which was a big inspiration and definitely worth a read. :D**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! YES AAAAAAAA—and thank you, Nox definitely is. :D And thank you! I love writing those two together (even though that scene _did_ make me tear up). We'll definitely be seeing what's up with them soon….**

**SilverPhoenix, thanks for the review! YES HYPE HYPE ALL THE HYPE! Well…keep in mind the _last_ time he had Tadashi dangled in front of him by someone resembling Nox it didn't end well. D: Ah thank you, I'm glad you liked that scene it gave me all the feels. :D And Obirdke—that is an official description now thank you. XD**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

Hiro and Baymax suited up first, the bird-kid in Baymax's arms as they took off, heading for the general area that they had first found the kid. Once they had a general direction, they'd start scanning the area for further clues—and hopefully a location to storm.

Hiro, meanwhile, couldn't help but constantly check the kid as Baymax circled around the warehouses before heading up to one of the turbines. Sure, he had said that the bird-kid wasn't _really_ Obake, but that didn't stop him from worrying that the kid would reach over and tap Baymax's chip bay, replace the ones with that one purple one—

Shake his head as Baymax evened out again—the bird-kid had spent the entire flight with his claws hooked in a ridge on Baymax's armor, looking around at everything. He wasn't like _that_—he just had to keep reminding himself of that.

Even if it _did_ take a while.

"Baymax, you can scan for others like this kid, right?" Hiro asked, tugging himself back to the here and now.

_"Yes,"_ Baymax said. _"The base temperature is: higher, than normal, and their genetic signatures have specific anomalies. And with my armor on, my scanners are at their full capacity."_ He touched down on one of the turbines. _"Shall I scan for: Tadashi, now?"_

The bird-kid's head poked up. "'Dashi—yes 'Dashi!"

"You hold it," Hiro told the kid. "First—do you know where you guys came from from here? I mean, which direction you were coming from?" Great—how was he supposed to word this?

The kid seemed to grasp his question though—looked around, pointed off in a direction. Hiro looked…pushed on the kid's arm to get him pointing elsewhere. The kid's arm snapped back to pointing across the bay—Hiro tried again—

The third time the kid squawked at him, clearly aggravated.

"Yeesh, sorry!" Hiro said, leaning back and hitting his comm. "Bad news, guys—the kid's pointing at Muirahara Woods. We can't take Baymax."

_"Well that's just great,"_ Gogo muttered.

_"Wait,"_ Wasabi said. _"Are we talking about Muirahara Woods, home of the crazy meteor-hermit?"_

_"Ned? Yeah,"_ Fred said. _"But we won't be taking Baymax this time, so he should be cool."_

_"Hiro?"_ Honey Lemon noised.

Hiro sighed. "Fred's got a point—we can't take Baymax, but we have to go in there and find just _where_ the kid's pointing—or—or maybe he's pointing past it, I can't imagine Ned letting someone build in the woods themselves." Consider. "But I don't know how far a radius that meteor has—I don't want to be flying on Baymax and have him malfunction."

_"That would have a: negative impact on your health, yes,"_ Baymax agreed.

"So maybe some of us go in while the rest keep looking for any sign—that night, there were definitely other things flying around—I can take the kid and—"

_"And you're not going in by yourself,"_ Gogo cut in.

All right, that was fair.

It was also why Hiro and Fred, out of costume, were riding across the bridge to Muirahara Woods in the Fredrickson limo, Heathcliff driving. Said limo had seat covers on everything now, which was some thinking ahead on someone's part, Hiro decided.

Especially considering that without them, the bird-kid would have probably torn up all the seats by now.

Said bird-kid kept running back and forth, trying to see out both sides of the limo at once, squawking and carrying on to the point that Hiro wasn't entirely certain whether or not he was taking this well.

As they got closer to the woods though, the bird-kid was increasingly looking out the right side of the limo, body tense like he was searching for something—Hiro finally moved from his spot next to Fred (the both of them having sat in the center of the backseat with their legs pulled up, hoping to avoid getting run over by sharp bird claws) to look out the window and try to see what the bird-kid was looking at.

Said bird-kid made a disappointed noise when the bay disappeared behind the trees.

"Are we going in the right direction?" Hiro asked him. Ear twitch, nod. "Are we heading past the woods? I mean, should we?"

Head shake, scramble across to the other windows.

"Ah…great," Hiro muttered, resting his head against the window—the glass was cool, he noted absently.

"All rightie then," Fred said, gingerly crossing up to the front of the limo. "Heathcliff, we're going into the woods."

"Right sir," Heathcliff said, making a turn. "I take it I should set a timer, so we don't have a repeat of last time?"

"Yeah—staying in a hot tub that long can't be healthy," Fred said.

"Yes," Hiro said. "But give us a few hours—we don't know how far in we'll be going."

"Probably past the usual trails at least," Fred said, sitting down and checking his phone. "Otherwise we'd be hearing about new cryptids in the woods."

Hiro sighed, shook his head—spent until the limo came to a halt sitting with his head back against the glass, eyes closed, focusing on deep breaths, slowly wringing his hands. Just—be ready for another shock, be ready, don't let it get to you, Baymax won't be here to snap you out of it.

He felt the seat move next to him, cracked an eye open to see the bird-kid looking out the window on his side. Closed his eye again—opened them again when he felt the bird-kid move, look to see him sitting against him, trying to imitate his pose while trying to work around the fact that the seat didn't accommodate someone with a tail and bird legs. Hiro scootched away—scowled a little when the kid scootched over too. Kid glanced away—this close he could see the anatomy of the ear, how the feathers in the front hid the earhole, surrounded by what looked like soft down, longer feathers growing out and away from where the earlobe should be. Watching it flex and perk up at the sound of the limo downshifting, he had to wonder just how exactly that anatomy worked, and how it worked in relation to the natural human anatomy that he could see. Feathers on the neck too, or at least the back and sides, something he managed to see before the bird-kid went mobile again, running back and forth between windows as the limo pulled into the parking lot for the Muirahara Woods trails.

"See anybody?" Hiro asked, peering out the window.

"No, Master Hiro," Heathcliff said from the front seat—Hiro made a face at that. "I did not notice any other cars in this particular lot either."

"But that means there's other cars around," Fred guessed.

"Indeed sir—the other lot, seems to be mostly the same make and model."

"_Mega-_suspicious," Fred said, checking his phone again. "Hmm, says here that the Muirahara trails are closed—_ultra_-suspicious. Definitely someone trying to hide something."

Hiro glanced at the bird-kid. "Or trying to find a few some_ones_—come on, let's check it out."

Hiro and Fred slipped out of the car—followed quickly by the bird-kid.

"How long shall I give you, sir?" Heathcliff asked.

"Couple hours, maybe three," Fred said, giving Heathcliff a finger gun. "Hiro, forget it—he's supposed to come with us, right?"

Hiro groaned, motioned for the kid to be quiet—snuck over to where he could see the other cars.

"That's the Krei Tech logo," Hiro whispered, taking a photo. "What are _they_ doing here?"

"Maybe getting on the wrong side of Ned," Fred guessed. "Or maybe he heard of the bird-people and decided to try to steal the tech—like he did with your microbots."

Hiro made a pensive noise, glanced around—there were other parking lots too, and one seemed to have activity as well, but they were wasting daylight—he didn't want to run the risk of running around in these woods at night again. "Come on—we need to get started." Turn to the bird-kid, who had found a pinecone and was turning it over like he was deciding whether or not it was good to eat. "There's others like you, out here in these woods, right?"

The bird-kid looked up, blinked, nodded.

"Can you take us to them?" Hiro asked.

The bird-kid considered, looked around, ears and nose twitching, still fingering the pinecone—stuffed the pinecone into a fold of his oversized sweater before stumbling off upright, glancing at Hiro and Fred before bounding off on all fours.

"Okay then—come on," Hiro said, running after the kid.

"All right—we're on the trail!" Fred mutely cheered. "Off to find a nest of bird-people!"

Hopefully nothing _that_ dire.

* * *

Things were dire.

That was the prevailing opinion because the olders kept fretting and were worried and kept glancing around and there was _something_ in these woods that howled and was mean and 'Dashi and 'Kase and Nox and Grump were supposed to be back by now but they had been gone for ages and ages and ages and _ages_ and they weren't back yet and that was _not good_, they needed to be back 'Dashi needed to be back 'Dashi was good and safe and older-brother and knew-everything and kept the flock the flight together without 'Dashi things were super-scary and no one liked that _at all_.

And Webby missed Nox, Nox was a good playmate Nox was like Dewey and Della and Lena and Violet and Huey and Louie Nox was ready for anything and without Nox it was kind of quieter she wanted Nox.

Lena wanted Nox too, Lena agreed that they had been gone way too long and they needed 'Dashi back and that this place was _no good_ this place felt weird and smothering and _wrong_ they couldn't feel which way _north_ was it was just a nasty buzzing in their heads and it was _no good wrong bad_.

And the new smell seeping through the woods—_that_ was _no good wrong bad_, it made Webby's teeth go on edge and her feathers stand on end it made her want to fly _far_ away why had they left that one place with all the food and warm and good and nice and the various places before and after that those were all good and nice and 'Dashi never let them stay anywhere that wasn't good or nice if it was bad and wrong 'Dashi would get them out _right now fast now_ but now they were here and it was bad and wrong and no good but 'Dashi had told them to _stay_ but 'Dashi had also told them he'd be _right back,_ and he wasn't _right back_ it had been ages and ages and ages and Webby was _sick of it._

Hence the plan—it was a good plan, Webby and Lena agreed, and Violet agreed too Violet wanted to go Violet _had_ to go because 'Dashi told them to follow the river to avoid getting lost and Violet had the best nose for water out of all of them she could find the river no problem.

They needed someone to cover too, had Huey and Louie and Della and Dewey do it and hope it worked because Huey was no good at it but Louie was great at misdirecting the olders maybe it should have just been Louie but the others wanted in and they wanted to do _something_ if they weren't going with them and maybe she was worrying about it too much because none of the olders except 'Kase and Grump understood them unless they spoke _words_ and they both had gone with 'Dashi hence their plan of going _after_ 'Dashi and finding him and them and maybe they were in trouble and needed them so they _had_ to go.

They waited until the olders were distracted, talking with Sashi about the food he had found—Webby's stomach rumbled, wanted to suggest waiting until after _food_ because she was hungry—squash that quickly, she was always hungry, 'Dashi was more important than food Nox was more important than food 'Kase and Grump were more important than food (maybe Grump was _as_ important as food) they had to go and find them _now_.

So they struck off, slowly and carefully, putting their feet and paws just _so_ to keep quiet-_shh-_quiet so the olders wouldn't hear, also so Violet could keep up Violet was always feeling tired and sluggish and _bleh_ but Violet would grit her teeth and grind her beak and push on they could count on her to do that—reach a clearing, gingerly stick their heads out, sniff carefully….

This was the clearing that 'Dashi and 'Kase and Grump and later Nox had launched from, the scent was faint but it was there, and maybe they were running into a problem because 'Dashi didn't want them flying during the day around here—

Webby _donk_ed herself on the forehead like she had seen some of the olders do, scramble up a tree, reach the top and sniff at the air—whistled excitedly when she spotted something glistening on the horizon—not water not ocean not bay, but something big and tall and shiny and _interesting—_

'Dashi and the others _had_ to have gone _that way._

She made sure to stay on the same side of the tree on her way down, carefully throwing out her wings every few feet to stop her descent, wings outstretched and letting her waft down when she was getting close. Lena and Violet whistled and chirped questions—

Webby quickly filled them in, pointing in the direction she was _sure_ the big shiny interesting was, chirruping that they _had_ to have gone _that way_, so _they_ had to go _that way_ too—Lena asked Violet about the river—

Violet tipped her head, closed her eyes, sniffed—tipped her head this way and that, still sniffing, pointed in a different direction. Webby pointed in a direction between the two points, reasoning that if they headed _that way_, the two would intersect—

That nasty howl cut through the air again, sounding meaner this time.

Lena quickly scooped them closer to her with her wings so she could hug them close, Lena was like Nox and 'Dashi in that when something scary loomed, she wanted _safe-safe-quiet-safe-no danger-safe_—Webby was all for meeting _danger-bad-danger_ head-on, making it so it couldn't do anything bad to them, but Violet would agree with Lena on wanting _safe_, and Webby would be outvoted, and Webby couldn't take on something bad and dangerous by herself, so she would go with them and hide and be _quiet-shh-quiet_ and careful and avoid whatever it was that was nasty and mean—

Ah.

Soft whistles, clicks, points at the trees—if it was _mean-nasty-mean_ like _bears_ and _cougars_, then it tracked by snuffling and sniffing and their smells, so if they went up in the trees and branched for a while, the mean howling thing would not be able to follow, it would get confused by the way their scent went up and vanished, and maybe they could cross their own paths to make it even _more_ confused—

Lena was nodding, but Violet whistled a new question—that of how they themselves would keep from getting lost and confused. Webby pointed out that so long as they stayed where Violet could scent water they'd be fine, and so long as Webby could scramble up the trees to check where the shiny thing was they'd be fine, and Lena insisted that they continue this conversation _off_ the ground, so they climbed and scrambled and got up to the trees and branched away from where they started—

Lena hissed for silence, ears perked—Webby clung to the bark, holding her breath, ears perked—heard it too, the nasty snuffling snorting noise that sounded _mean-nasty-mean_ like _bears_ and _cougars_ did. Look at each other, glad they were off the ground—

Violet hissed that it might follow their scent back to the others.

That wouldn't be good, that would be _bad_ they would be in trouble without 'Dashi there 'Dashi and Grump both they were the first ones to charge the _bear_ and the _cougar_ without them the others were in trouble—

Webby squawked and cawed—waited, ears perked—squawk and caw again, adding _danger-danger-danger-bad-be careful-danger-bad_ so the others would know that there was something lurking in the woods—heard the mean-nasty crunching their way—

Whistle sharp at the others, quickly start branching—Webby went around, scratched down a few trees before scrambling back up different ones, circled around to the others—Lena was chittering breathlessly at Violet, who had just barely avoided missing the last branch and going crashing down, was trying to convince her to hold onto Lena and let Lena do the branching for both of them, Violet quietly arguing back that _no she could do this no_—

They startled into abrupt silence at a loud crunching noise behind them.

_A loud crunching noise that was up in the trees with them._

Lena made a quiet noise, and Violet climbed on to hug against her chest without comment—Webby was braced to attack, trying to keep her feathers up despite them wanting to plaster against her body and make her look thin-small-tiny—Lena batted her on the arm, hissing _go-go-flee-go—_

_Crunch-crackle-crunch—_

_The thing was branching too._

Webby couldn't help the alarmed squeak, despite trying to keep it from escaping her throat—Lena tugged hard—

Webby didn't need telling twice—they jumped away, branch to branch to branch—Webby spotted a trail where the trees were farther away from each other, whistled at Lena—angled over to the trail, spread their wings—Webby was able to flit along quickly, but Lena with her bigger wings was scraping the trees, hissing every time one threatened to grab her wing—swing across to the other side of the trail—

_Something big broke through the trees._

It landed on the trail just as Lena reached cover—she was hugging Violet tight, wilfed down to nothing, trying very hard not to breathe or make any sound—Webby was wilfed down hard too, eyes wide, staring at the _thing_ sniffing the air, trying to find them—it was big, big as Grump, big as the _bear_, hairy and nasty and with _clothes_ on but it wasn't one of them it wasn't part of the flight it was different it was scary it was _mean_—

_It was looking right at her._

She froze—no no no it couldn't see her it shouldn't scent her she was downwind she could smell it she was not here not here not here—

And then its gaze shifted, and she realized it was scanning the trees for them, sniffing and huffing and angry—it wanted them, it was trying to find them….

It started padding away down the trail, still snuffling—disappeared down a bend, and it was ages and ages and ages and forever and ever and her lungs were going to burst and she couldn't hold her breath anymore—

She gusted out a breath, inhaled—froze, listening….

Nothing. Not even birds, which had been bad-bad-bad the olders should have known then that no birds meant _bad_—breathed in again, sucking in good air fresh air _bad air bad she tasted the bad-place on the air—_realized it was part of the bad-scent of the howling-hairy-chase-through-trees thing.

Violet quietly asked that they not go that way, and Webby and Lena both agreed that way was _bad-no good-bad_ but they had to not be upwind of the howling-hairy-thing they had to do something—

Branch carefully, now with a focus on stealth and caution and quiet, Violet constantly sniffing the air and pointing out when they should be angling closer to the river—but not too close because of the awful howling-hairy-thing—Webby would shimmy up a tree, look around to make sure they were still heading in the right direction, even with their usual sense of direction buzzing and being no good—

And then mist and _fog_ rolled in, blocking her view and confusing Violet's sense of smell because now _everything_ smelled like water and wet and she couldn't pick out the river for the wet—

And their sense of direction was still kerfuffled from whatever was going on with this forest these woods were no good bad bad bad lousy _bad_ and dangerous and awful not as awful as the bad-place but that _smell_ was around so it was—

They huddled together on a thicker branch, wings and arms wrapped around each other, shaking and trembling and trying not to cry this was bad this was very bad maybe they should have stayed with the others they wanted 'Dashi 'Dashi would have chased the bad howling-hairy-thing off 'Dashi was good and safe and she didn't know about the rest of them but she _wanted 'Dashi_—

Her ears perked—she heard whistling—a very familiar whistle—look at the others—knew they knew it too—whistle back tentatively….

Again—there it was—it was!

_Nox!_


	37. Meeting in the Woods

**Chapter 37, everybody! And I think in my writing up on this I might be getting close to having it entirely written out…might bump it up to posting twice a week once that happens but in the meantime know that we have updates clean into the new year. :D**

**Also, if you fell victim to the dreaded FFN glitch last week, just know I posted then too so you now have _two_ new chapters to read. :D**

**Continuing blanket disclaimer: I still have not finished Season Two. We're flying blind, boys. Still keeping up with Season 3, though, and…I actually missed last night couldn't get motivated sorry. :\ And again, a good chunk of these chapters were written before I had been able to bring myself to watch "Countdown to Catastrophe"…and in other news, yes I'm still in denial of the end of "Countdown to Catastrophe" don't at me. D:**

**In that vein…this chapter was one of those that were written ahead, and written when all I knew of the episode "Muira-Horror" was Ned's monster form on the commercials. So…unique approach time. :D In other news: appropriate music for this chapter would be "The Little Lost Girl" from the _Homeward Bound_ soundtrack and "Sharptooth and the Earthquake" from the _Land Before Time_ soundtrack. You'll see why in a bit. ;)**

**Also uh…so there's birds shown in Muirahara Woods but part of the story demands for this AU is that Bessie affects magnetic fields (since strong magnetic fields would disrupt technology) which would also affect birds. It's something that's a major plot point with flecks in the _Guardians of Ga'Hoole_ series, which was a big inspiration and definitely worth a read. :D Although in this case, Fred is quoting Ms. Frizzle from _The Magic School Bus_—although it occurs to me that he could have just as easily heard it from Wendy Wower. ^^**

**Also I feel like "the nails _the nails_" is quoting something but I can't recall—do say it to our cats a _lot_ though. XD "I'll try to be chewy" is definitely a quote from the _Dharma and Greg_ episode "Brought to you by Dharmavision," and is probably closer to the original situation (Greg and Larry running from a bear) than it was when Tadashi quoted it. XD Fred's also kinda quoting Harry from the third _Harry Potter_ movie.**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! YAAAS! *flails* I'm like 100% sure you're right. XD EEEEE thank you—wait until you get to the end of _this_ chapter….**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

For the first ten or twenty minutes, Hiro had to be majorly focused on not tripping over roots or underbrush, didn't have any breath for commenting as he tried to keep up with the bird-kid speeding through the woods, off like a shot and slipping through the foliage without a problem. Fred, behind him, sounded like he kept tripping and falling—Hiro didn't dare look though—he worried that if he took his eyes off this kid for even half a second he'd be gone and that was it, might as well kiss it all goodbye.

Eventually, though, the bird-kid slowed down, finally came to a halt, ears swiveling and nose twitching as he paced around a clearing, scrubbing at his head and making a keening noise as he finally flopped down, frustrated or lost.

Boy Hiro hoped that it wasn't the latter.

"What's the matter?" Hiro asked, coming even with him. "Did we lose a trail or something? What is it?"

The bird-kid was rocking back and forth, still keening and whimpering, clutching handfuls of his hair—Hiro reached out—stopped and looked when Fred finally stumbled into the clearing.

"Haa—_haaa_—hold on—gotta—gotta catch my breath," Fred wheezed—sucked in hard—"Okay, better. What're we doing?"

"I don't know—he just stopped," Hiro said, pulling out his phone to check the time—"And the phone's on the blink—we must be in range of Bessie."

"Dude, harsh," Fred said, checking his own phone as Hiro paced back the way they came. Ten feet, twenty feet—the screen was still on the fritz, but it was starting to clear—turn around, head back for the others before he lost them.

Fred was sitting next to the bird-kid and trying to cajole him into a better mood when Hiro came back.

"Look, it's no biggie if you can't find it little bud—it was just something we were wondering about, it's a big forest, don't sweat it, 'kay?"

Hiro started to comment—stopped, considering….Circled around to kneel on the bird-kid's other side, gingerly pat his back.

"Uh, Fred?" Hiro asked. "Um—not sure if it applies here, but don't birds usually navigate on um, on the earth's magnetic lines?"

"Yes, definitely," Fred said, after a moment's thought. "Ms. Frizzle said so."

Okay, fine. "And…considering _Bessie_ could be magnetic, since a strong magnetic field could short out any tech…maybe it's affecting him?"

Fred considered—finally succeeded in getting the kid to be quiet for long enough to listen to the area.

"Dude, you're right—I'm not hearing any birds," Fred whispered.

"Maybe they're avoiding the area because of Bessie," Hiro suggested. "But you'd think that—I don't know, you'd think bird-people would do the same thing."

"Maybe they had no choice."

Hiro considered that possibility—stopped the bird-kid before he went too far. "No wait—we can't go any farther, we'll get lost. We can—we can just turn around and try again tomorrow."

The kid was looking pained, looking at him like—like _him_—

"There's fog rolling in," Hiro said sternly, trying to ignore that face. "We can't navigate in that. And I, for one, don't want to be lost in these woods again, okay?"

The kid slumped to the ground, like he had that other time.

"Is he okay?" Fred asked.

"Near as I can figure, he's having a tantrum," Hiro said, letting go of the kid's arm to better shake his shoulders. "Hey, listen—I'm not kidding, we're going to get _way_ lost in these woods if we keep going. We've done that already, all right? I don't want to do it again."

No dice, the kid was whimpering and working up to that loud keening noise—

_"Hey!"_ Hiro barked, hoping to cut that noise off. "We'll try again tomorrow, okay?"

"Yes, earlier," Fred agreed. "And if you go back to the limo with us, we'll stop at Yaki Taco and get something to eat."

One of those ears twitched at Fred.

"Yeah, you know, food?" Fred asked.

Fred suddenly had the kid's undivided attention.

"Seriously?" Hiro had to ask. "What is it with this kid and eating like there's no tomorrow?"

"Not sure," Fred said, standing. "Welp! Come on, little dude—don't want to keep Heathcliff waiting, amirite?"

Hiro stood, watching the bird-kid—he seemed hesitant, kept glancing around and scrubbing at his head, like he still wanted to go and try—

Hiro almost reached for him—stopped, took a deep breath, put his hand down. "Tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay," the bird-kid repeated, seeming to shrink in on himself. "Okay…."

Hiro didn't think there was any real comprehension going on there—there really wasn't anything of Obake in this kid, he realized, crossing his arms against the chill seeping in. Obake had been absolutely terrifying when it came down to it, when he realized the true scope of the past couple of months—this kid was…literally a kid, and the only thing he shared with that man was a vague resemblance that became much too sharp with certain expressions.

It would take a while, though—one did not simply recover from such an event after a few days. It would just be something he had to work on.

"Come on," Hiro said finally. "Before we lose Fred."

The kid automatically reached for Hiro's arm—he stepped back—clawed fingers curled, and the kid went back to being curled up on himself, rocking a little now as he scanned the area, ears twitching. Hiro struggled to hold back a sigh—this was going to be a nightmare.

"Yo!" Fred called, making his way back to them. "I was totally having a conversation and _nobody_ was there! What's up?"

"It's…a work in progress," Hiro told him, shrugging a little.

"Ah. Dude, seriously, you two were like, tight yesterday, what happened? Come on little dude, we got places to be, tacos to eat! Only don't jump through the drive-thru window, they hate that."

The kid glanced at Hiro, looked around one last time—whistled a little, something inquiring about the tone…slouched when nothing happened. Started for Fred—

They froze at a sudden sound in the fog—someone whistling.

"Uh, Fred?" Hiro asked. "Do you think that's an echo?"

"I…do not know," Fred said slowly. "But check out little dude."

The bird-kid had gone rigid—snapped his head around, whistled again—

This time there was no mistaking the whistle they heard—that was most certainly _not_ an echo, that was coming from something else—

The bird-kid shot off.

"Hey wait!" Hiro barked, running after him. "Wait you'll get lost! _We'll_ get lost!"

"Come back little dude!" Fred yelled, running after them both. "We don't do good in rough terrain like this!"

Hiro certainly didn't, was nursing a stitch in his side again from trying to keep up with the bird-kid tearing through the foliage, sucking in thin breaths that cut into his trachea and lungs coming in and going out, hair starting to stick wetly to his forehead—the glimpses he got of the bird-kid said he wasn't winded at all, looked _excited_ about something—they couldn't keep running like this though—

The bird-kid skidded to a halt, squawking loudly, allowing Hiro a moment to catch up—reached the clearing he had stopped in just as something popped out of the woods on the other side—

And went barreling right for the bird-kid.

Hiro screamed, backpedaling as first one, then two, then three things bowled the bird-kid over, rolling him, loads and loads of shrieking and screeching and screaming—Fred ran into his back, gasped at the sight—

"No wait Hiro!" Fred gasped, catching Hiro before he could bolt back—if this was bad they needed a plan—"I think those might be little dude's friends!"

Hiro blinked, looked harder, trying to untangle the activity—four feathery…kids, none of them were much bigger than their own bird-kid, wrestling and flailing and screaming and shrieking—

And hugging each other tightly, he realized, one smaller one sobbing open-mouthed, their bird-kid with eyes squinched shut tight against tears.

"Aw," Fred noised.

"Are—are you _crying?"_ Hiro asked, hardly daring to risk taking his attention off of the tangle of feathers and wings.

"No! I just—I got tree in my eye, okay?" Fred sniffed. "I don't—does anyone have a tissue?"

Hiro smirked, trying to keep it to a minimum, focused on the bird-kids—one was maybe a little bigger than their bird-kid, and the smallest one was light purple—someone had bothered to put clothes on them all, he noted inanely—

And then the little purple one spotted them, whistled sharply, causing all four of them to freeze, attention locked on them, ears pricked.

"Uh," Hiro noised, flinching back, muscles tensing—it occurred to him that they could really be in some major danger, their bird-kid would have no reason to stop these others from attacking them, was warbling something….

And then the smaller white-feathered one popped up right in front of them, startling them into falling back with a shriek—

"Hi! I'm Webby!" it said brightly.

Hiro had to take a moment and blink at this one—maybe middle-sized of the three that had tackled the bird-kid—and definitely more bird-kid than the bird-kid, this one had a beak—they _all_ had beaks, and feathers on their faces, whatever they had done with the bird-kid they had taken further with these three—

He realized it was waiting for a response. "H-hi?" he tried.

It looked him up and down brightly—maybe it was a girl, someone had dressed it in pastels and a shirt that was long enough to pass as a skirt and the hair was cut in a girl's style hair and feathers—okay mind, start working again—

"Hi! I'm Webby!"

Hiro blinked—he was thinking the voice was definitely female, but…"Hi Webby?"

"No no no wait I getcha," Fred said, leaning forward and clearing his throat. "Hi—I'm _Fred,"_ he said, indicating himself.

"Fwah," it—she, he guessed—noised, looking at Fred.

"Close enough. And _this,"_ Fred said, gesturing expansively to Hiro. "Is _Hiro. Hiiiro."_

"Really?" Hiro asked flatly—and then leaning back at Webby going wide-eyed and whistling.

"Hiro?" she asked. "Hiro Hiro 'Dashi-Hiro?"

"Uh…."

He was glad that their particular bird-kid squawked, directing Webby's attention away—he scuttled back, got to his feet and in a position where he could bolt if need be—watched with Fred as Webby and their bird-kid apparently had an argument.

"Dashi-Hiro!" Webby insisted, looking back at Hiro, pointing at him when she looked back at the others. "Dashi-Hiro yes!"

"And Fred," Fred reminded her. "Yeesh, Hiro, I'm a little jealous—they get _your_ name right away."

"Maybe it's easier to say," Hiro suggested.

"Hmm…or," Fred posed, sounding pensive. "If this clone-friend is talking nonstop about Tadashi, maybe if there's a clone-Tadashi, he's talking nonstop about you!"

"Great," Hiro muttered—and then freezing at the way they all were looking at them. "Uh, Fred—"

"'Dashi?" Webby asked, full attention riveted on Fred. "'Dashi yes 'Dashi?"

"Uh, no," Fred said. "But we're looking."

Webby sagged, making some noises that sounded sad—perked up immediately.

"Dashi-Hiro," she said, pointing at Hiro. "Fwah." Point at Fred. "Webby." Point at herself.

"Okay, okay, with you so far," Fred said, nodding.

She nodded, whistled—pointed at the purple one that was mincing close to Fred and tipping its head this way and that, nostrils at the back of its beak twitching.

"Vi-olet," Webby said—ran and grabbed the third one and their bird-kid, led them over.

"Lena," Webby said, pointing at the third one before hugging their bird-kid. "Nox."

Hiro blinked. "Nox?" he echoed—Webby trilled and nodded.

"Okay cool," Fred said. "That wasn't in the running for name ideas, but I get it, has a nice ring to it…."

He was glad Fred was okay with the name. That name—that made no sense—that wasn't even remotely close to _Obake_…maybe there was something he was missing.

Webby chirped, nodded—startled him badly when she lunged forward, took a beat to realize she was hugging him, chirps and whistles right in his ear now.

"Uh, too much," Hiro tried, trying to figure out a way to peel her off—he could feel claws in his hoodie, was more than a little glad she wasn't gripping him harder.

"'Dashi-Hiro, yes good yes," she warbled, burrowing her face in his shoulder and neck. "'Dashi-Hiro yes."

"Uh, no, this is too much—please let go."

Their bird-kid—Nox, he guessed—started squawking sternly, arms crossed and hunched in on himself. The biggest one, Lena, looked at him, amused—tipped her head and whistled, causing him to duck his head.

Why became clear when Lena zeroed in on his broken and bandaged wing.

One chirp was all it took to get Webby off of him and focused on Nox—he rolled backwards, righted himself to see them all focused on the broken wing, poking it and quietly chirping noises that sounded questioning.

"That's how we found him," Hiro said, deciding to try. "There were others, but they were flying away from…I don't know, security goons." They looked up at him. "How…how many more of you are there, exactly?"

_That_ started a whole discussion, one that ended when Webby squawked, flapped her arms and wings, padded over to Hiro—he tried to keep his edging away from her subtle.

Webby, at least, didn't seem to notice—she was too busy looking up pensively, playing with her fingers, nodding slightly and making little noises in her throat—

"Webby," she said finally, looking at him and pointing to herself. "Lena. Violet. Nox." Point at the others. "'Dashi-Hiro." Point at Hiro, ignoring Nox's squawk.

"Fred," Fred volunteered, half-raising a hand.

"Um, that's not what I meant," Hiro said.

Webby shook her head, pointed at herself and the others again. "Webby. Lena. Nox. Violet. 'Dashi-Hiro." Consider Fred a moment. "Fwah. 'Dashi. Sashi. 'Kase. Huey. Dewey. Louie—"

"Now wait a minute," Hiro said, coughing from holding a laugh in and trying to ignore the jolt he got from hearing _'Dashi_. "Webby, Huey, Dewey, Louie? Who named you, a _Ducktales _fan? What next, there's a Scrooge and Donald?"

Webby shook her head, went through the names again before getting to some new ones. "Della. Beth. Sue. Harry. Drew. Mei." Pause, looking up, quietly working her beak. "Tri_sha_. Tay_lor_. Grump." Long pause, beak grinding. "Brr-tee. Briii-TAN-eee."

"Brittany?" Fred guessed.

Webby nodded, whistling and chirping and pointing at Fred before listing all the names again.

Hiro started counting on his fingers as she went, ignoring his and Fred's names.

"Twenty," he said finally, putting his hands down. "Twenty bird-people."

"That's a lot, maybe," Fred mused—blinked at Violet suddenly there and looking at him. "Hello. I—yes that's a nose," he said, when Violet started tapping his. "As you can see, some people have noses and—_woah no_ we do _not_ know each other that well!" he squawked, yanking his shirt back down.

Violet looked at Webby and whistled.

"You're a little young to be thinking that, don't you think?" Fred asked, smoothing his shirt out.

"That wasn't a wolf-whistle, Fred," Hiro said, looking around again. It was getting dark. "Look, we need to get out of here—it's too dangerous to be wandering around here—unless…." Look at Webby. "Can you guys get us back to the others? The ones like you?"

Webby looked agitated, started pawing at her head. "No-no-no bad no-good _BAD_—"

"Hey hey hey!" Hiro yelped, grabbing her wrists before she hurt herself. "It's okay—I was just asking." Maybe he could ask her—"It's Bessie, isn't it? I bet you can tell which way north is, but thanks to that meteor you can't, right?"

The bird-kids all blinked at him.

"Okay," Hiro sighed, standing up. "North," he said, picking a direction and pointing. "But then you came to these woods, and…." Start gesturing wildly before shrugging.

"All right, Hiro!" Fred cheered as Webby nodded, chirping. "Finally getting the hang of this, huh?" Look at Violet when she waved a hand in front of his face.

"Up," she said, holding her arms up.

"Okay yeah sure hold on—let me get up first and…here we go!" Fred said, scooping her up. "AAAH the nails _the nails_…."

Webby was tugging on Hiro's sleeve now.

"I'm not sure where we are either," he told her. "But I have a general idea—you can come with us. Um, Nox does at least—we can't leave him with his wing like that."

Lena and Nox looked at each other—Lena stood, extended a wing, hugged Nox close—

Something roared, echoing weirdly in the forest, causing them all to jump close together, tense with fear.

"Dude," Fred noised, hugging a wide-eyed Violet tight to him. "_What—"_

_"What was that?"_ Hiro croaked.

"Shh," Webby noised. "Shh bad-bad no-good bad—"

"Uh…right," he decided. "Let's just…get out of here."

Hiro turned, hopefully angling the way they had come, gingerly making his way through the foggy forest—Webby clung on tight to his sleeve, glance back to see her waving a hand at Lena, who had a firm hold on their bird-kid, Nox. Fred was taking up the rear, he and Violet trying to see everywhere at once.

"Sooo," Fred noised quietly after several tense minutes. "I…don't really think that was Ned, Ned wasn't the roaring type of guy."

Hiro nodded, glanced at the bird-kids again. "Maybe it's something Sycorax let loose? To try and track these guys down? Something that _wouldn't_ be tripped up by Bessie?"

"Maybe," Fred said. "Pretty sure Ned would take offense though."

"Yeah, well Ned sorta took offense to everything—"

Webby shushed him, looked around, eyes wide—Hiro looked, couldn't see anything for the fog—led them down a slope, around a fallen tree, straining to see, to hear anything—

Something snorted above their heads.

They looked up—

Something big, hairy, and with decidedly sharp teeth was looking down at them.

"Please tell me I'm the only one seeing this," Fred hissed—

Violet reacted next.

The scream was sharp and loud and nearly of a pitch that Hiro couldn't hear—ripped right through him, like someone had shot glass out of a cannon—

And then the monster screamed at them, and those teeth were _definitely sharp holy—_

_"RUN!"_ Hiro screamed, bolting—grab Webby's wrist so he didn't lose her—

Lena and Nox sprang ahead, bounding on all fours—all the bird-kids were shrieking in a total cacophony, although he was sure he and Fred weren't any better right now—

Fell down a slope, narrowly avoiding the monster lunging for them—Webby caught a branch, Hiro let go so he didn't yank her—got some scrapes on his hand for his trouble—hit a tree further down hard enough to wind him—

Saw the monster bouncing through the trees, angling for them—

Saw the very familiar clothes it was wearing.

"Uh, _Fred!?"_ Hiro squawked. "_I think we found Ned!"_

At least, he was pretty sure it _used_ to be Ned.

Except now it was a huge and hairy monster with flashing fangs and glowing eyes and it was coming right for him and he had no way to defend himself—scramble to get away, unable to get any traction—this was it, this was it it was all over—claws coming down—

Slamming into the ground in front of him as the monster reared back, screaming—

And then Webby was on its head, drawing sharp claws across its eyes and shrieking bloody murder, flapping her wings and thrashing her tail and jumping away when it pawed to get her loose—

She landed in front of Hiro, grabbed him, hauling, shoving, screaming _go-go-go—_

Hiro finally got his feet under him and took off.

Screams were echoing through the forest—his, Fred's, the bird-kids'—thunderous crunching alerted him to the fact that the monster that used to be Ned was still right behind him—wanted to risk a glance back but if he did he'd lose his footing—just—keep going, keep going, keep—

Another shriek, the bellow wasn't _right_ on his heels anymore—pour on the speed, force himself past the burning pain and the sharp breaths shredding his respiratory system with each tight gasp, sweat pouring down his skin, hair plastered to his forehead, branches snapping and slicing at him as he ran—

Open up ahead—maybe—more space—_run_—the ground was starting to slope a little—

He had maybe three feet of warning before the cliff—hit the brakes, try to skid to a halt—too late too late too—

Hands hooked in his hoodie, hauled back—he landed hard on his rear, scuttled backwards, gasping, heaving—hands still pulling and trying to drag him back, away from that sheer drop—look back—

Felt a sharp cold stab of surprise when he realized it was Nox and Lena, tugging him away and shooting glances the way he had come—right, monster, bigger problems—

And then Webby shot out of the brush, warbling shriek cutting the air—

"_No the cliff!"_ Hiro managed, throat still too tight—the monster blew out of the brush, fully committed to its charge, focused on Webby, who hit the edge of the cliff—

_And kept going._

"NO!" Hiro yelped, chest suddenly squeezed too tight—the monster followed, the bird-kids behind screaming—

And then Webby arced back up, wings flapping, darting every which way before landing on the cliff edge, fists in the air—turned around, pumped the air again, shrieking.

Snap behind—Hiro whipped his head around, noticed the bird-kids doing the same—saw Fred stumbling out of the brush, still with a hold on Violet.

"I…I can't," he wheezed, sinking to the ground, patting Violet as he went down to his hands and knees. "You're…you're going to have to…go on…without me…I'll…I'll try to be chewy…."

"Fred!" Hiro barked, making the older boy look up. "It's—I don't know, Webby just—led him off the cliff…."

He crawled to the cliff face, looked—it had only been scant seconds, but he could see the monster clinging to a rock in the rushing river far beneath—

And then losing its grip and being swept away.

He let out a long, hissing breath, tension starting to leak out. "I…I think it's gone."

Webby cheered again, sat down hard, digging her fingers in the dirt and chattering—Hiro could see blood splattered all over her fingers, recalled that she _had_ scratched the monster hard across the eyes.

Fred was peering over his shoulder now, taking the river in.

"Dude," he said finally. "Ned's having a bad day."

"Y-yeah," Hiro said, looking at Webby. "Uh…th-thank you—for saving me, back there."

Webby whistled cheerfully, checked her hands to make sure she had gotten everything off, shook her hands before tackling Hiro in a hug—

Lena was looking the river up and down…suddenly looked upriver with enough of a squawk to get everyone sat up in alarm.

"What?" Fred asked, trying for a wobbly kung-fu pose, one arm wrapped around Violet. "What is it?"

Webby bounced up, Nox looking cheerful—grabbed Hiro's arm and started tugging, squawking "Yes yes good yes go yes!"

"Wait—" Hiro tried, scrambling upright. "Go _where_?"

In response, Webby started rattling names off again, pointed upriver—

"The other bird-people!" Fred gasped.

"I—" Tadashi—the clone-Tadashi could be there.

So many reasons clamored forward, so many reasons for him to turn around, to not go—it was late, it was foggy, monster-Ned might come back, he was exhausted—his legs really were like jelly right now. So many reasons not to—

But he had to—he had to know.

Swallow hard, nod—"Okay," he said. "Okay. Let's go."

Webby made a sort of _fwee_ noise, tugged him forward—

An explosion knocked him off his feet, sent him tumbling, rolling—managed to get big handfuls of grass just as his feet swung out over thin air—

"HO CRUD!" Fred yelped, scrambling upright—he had managed to get ahold of a tree branch—spotted Hiro, gasped—

Nox was already scrambling forward on all fours, Lena catching him by the heels—grabbed Hiro's wrists, squawked—Webby was helping Lena haul back, Hiro working his legs, trying to catch the ground—

Another explosion—Hiro winced, eyes flinching shut—opened them to see Fred still grabbing the branch, reaching to hook a hand in the back of Lena's sweater, Violet clinging to his chest and screaming, looking up—

Hiro followed her line of sight to see a tree falling right for them.


	38. Past a Breaking Point

**Chapter 38, everybody! And I think in my writing up on this I might be getting close to having it entirely written out…might bump it up to posting twice a week once that happens but in the meantime know that we have updates clean into the new year. :D**

**Continuing blanket disclaimer: I still have not finished Season Two. We're flying blind, boys. Still keeping up with Season 3, though, and…I did watch a tiny bit Friday and I question how a bunch of tech geniuses failed to have an antivirus program more effective than what I can get. :\ And again, a good chunk of these chapters were written before I had been able to bring myself to watch "Countdown to Catastrophe"…and in other news, yes I'm still in denial of the end of "Countdown to Catastrophe" don't at me. D:**

**As with last chapter, this chapter was one of those that were written ahead, and written when all I knew of the episode "Muira-Horror" was Ned's monster form on the commercials. So…unique approach time. :D In other news: appropriate music for this chapter would be "Sharptooth and the Earthquake" from the **_**Land Before Time **_**soundtrack. You'll see why in a bit. ;)**

**Also uh…so there's birds shown in Muirahara Woods but part of the story demands for this AU is that Bessie affects magnetic fields (since strong magnetic fields would disrupt technology) which would also affect birds. It's something that's a major plot point with flecks in the **_**Guardians of Ga'Hoole**_**series, which was a big inspiration and definitely worth a read. :D**

**Also, anyone remember IKEA's "Start the car!" commercial? Same energy.**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! AHHH ME TOO! Webby definitely knows how to introduce herself. :D Me too—and me too. D:**

**Hexyah, thanks for the review! Who is Alison and what does her cow costume have to do with anything? Yeah it's been a bit in meta time—not in the fic though, since it's been…pff, maybe two days? Yes, I would think Fred's mom would notice bird-people….**

**SilverPhoenix, thanks for the reviews! We'll find out and yes! And yes and yes and thank you. :D And hopefully Hiro will be meeting a Tadashi soon….And yes excited bird-kids, good charades, and she is Webby, bringer of death. :O Probably! I kind of headcanon that Tadashi was friends with Fred first out of their whole group (with Fred meeting the rest when he tags along with Tadashi to SFIT), and that their dynamic is something like Bill and Ted or Miguel and Tulio. :D YES!**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

_Dead._

_Dead dead I'm so dead WE'RE dead—_

Crashing, splintering—his whole world was suddenly the dying shriek of a tree, branches stabbing deep into the earth, slicing through the sod, sending it breaking away down into the river—ground falling away beneath his stomach—

New shrieking—look up—the branches had missed him, missed Nox, missed the other bird-kids—Lena and Webby were scrambling for purchase—

Nox kicked his legs free, grabbed at a branch with his back feet—

Hiro was suddenly dangling, almost perpendicular, supported only by Nox's grip on a branch.

Panic—heart—it wasn't wanting to work right—it had figured out first that they had just had a very narrow miss—brain wasn't wanting to work, just a blank static haze of panic—heart thudding out of tempo—couldn't suck a breath in—

Managed to suck _a_ breath in—had to cough and splutter at the dirt—squint up, saw Lena leaning to grab Nox, squawking for him—saw Fred, still hanging onto her back—

Webby was climbing up one of the branches, inching her way towards them—maybe she was saying something, he didn't know—the tree's dying breath was still dominating his ears—

Another low boom—everyone flinched, looked—Hiro knew—another explosion—

Knew intrinsically that it was where the bird-people must be.

Muscles twitching—higher reasoning was starting to return—gingerly kick out, start swinging—had to get his feet against solid ground—it didn't matter if it was at a severe slope—he had to help get them out of this—

Hearing was starting to return too, enough for him to hear screams in the air—screams that didn't belong to anyone here.

They knew, though—he could see it, see it in the bird-kids' eyes, their expressions—redouble his efforts, dig his trainers in the sod—Lena spotted him, reached down—he was closer—look at Nox—he needed a hand free—

He had seen that expression before, too, on that face.

And then Nox let go of his left hand, letting him throw it up at Lena—

Sharp claws dug into the flesh just beneath his wrist—she hauled back, spine arching—Fred grabbed her around the waist, Violet on the ground and pulling on the tail of his shirt as he tugged—

And then Hiro's other hand was scrabbling against solid ground, as his knees hit dirt and pushed him away from the edge—flop back, chest heaving, barely registering Nox and Webby crawling upside-down for them—

Another explosion—another tree angling down—

The bird-kids jumped, scrambled at the dirt, hauled themselves up—everyone scrambling back as the second tree crashed into the first, sending both crashing down into the river—

Hiro wasn't sticking around to see if the ground would give beneath them.

Grab Nox's wrist, scramble upright, hollering _run_—his own voice felt like it was coming from the other end of a long tunnel—push at Lena, point away from the explosions, following the river—it had to lead to the bay at some point, it was their best bet—

Fred scooped Violet up, sprinted—Lena and Webby bounded forward, shrieking and glancing back, finding a thin trail through the trees—Hiro let go of Nox, put his arms up to shield his face as they crashed through the underbrush, shrieks travelling through the forest around them—it was chaos, mad chaos—the fog was blood-red from the fires behind—

Glance back once, to see flames licking distant trees—absently thought that Ned would be furious when he got back up here—Nox's eyes were wide and gleaming fear as he bounded along on all fours, angling around Hiro, glancing back—fling up his tail so the tip waved in Hiro's face, squawking—

Hiro wasn't quite sure just _why_ he grabbed on, but the moment he did he found himself nearly yanked off his feet, Nox pulling him along—again he was pushed to the ends of his limits and beyond, muscles jelly, sweat blinding, breath ragged—he couldn't—awareness boiling down to his gasping breath, the dull _thud-thud-thud_ of his feet and his heart—just—let it be over soon, please—

_Snap-snap-snap—_

The sound of sneaker treads on asphalt.

Awareness startled back to him—the parking lot! There, the limo!

_"Start the car!"_ Fred was screaming, waving an arm. _"Start the car!"_

Cracking, splintering, a dying groan—

Hiro risked a glance back, could see branches snapping, could hear them crying out as another tree broke through, angling down—

Nox dodged sideways, yanking Hiro along with him—

Hiro had his face shielded with his free hand, still cried out when splinters went flying—the limo was angling for them, side door sliding open—

Fred dove in, Webby and Lena bounding in after him—Nox leaped in—Hiro jumped, foot caught the edge, sending him tumbling in, knees scraping—someone squawked—

But the limo was already speeding off, door sliding shut, cutting off the screams of a forest in distress.

Hiro rolled off of whoever he had landed on—Nox, he realized when the bird-kid sat up—laid there, gasping, trying to suck in a decent breath, watching branches whisk away through what he could see of the windows…it was over, they were out….

With more questions than answers, with at least fifteen or sixteen bird-people who had…what, been attacked? Burned? The whole forest was on fire—the guy who would have defended it with his dying breath turned into a monster—

Who was responsible crept through his awareness like a deep chill, the why frosting along his bones.

Sycorax. After the bird-people they must have been responsible for, perhaps burning everything to cover their tracks.

Burning every_one_….

He was shaking, he realized—realized Fred was saying his name, leaning over him and looking concerned—

Realized someone else was shaking next to him. Look—Nox, laying there with his good wing draped over Hiro, curled up, fists against his head and eyes shut tight, Lena laying next to him with a wing draped over him—Violet still had a death-grip on Fred's torso, Webby was making soft sad noises—

"—Hiro—Hiro buddy, speak to me. Are you okay?"

Hiro blinked—blinked several times more, trying to process, trying to restart his brain—his entire existence had boiled down to getting away, his mind had recoiled at the idea of someone destroying the woods and potentially murdering people, at the idea that they had very nearly _died_….

The first noise he made was somewhere between a deep exhale and a cough. "Y-yeah," he managed, getting something sounding like speech going. "I'm here." Not okay—not after all that—

Fred heaved a sigh of relief. "Oh good man—I was—like, a dozen times, thinking we were about to _die_, you know?"

Hiro nodded, thought about getting up—didn't think he was ready for that just yet. "I…I'm just going to…I'm going to just lay here, for a minute."

"Cool, cool, good idea," Fred said, easing from a crouching position to a sitting position, putting his weight on the side of his hip as he craned to see out the back window. "Aw man…."

"Is it bad?"

"It's messy," Fred confirmed, twisting to a sitting position—pumped his fist at the front of the limo. "But props to my man Heathcliff! Getting us out of there in record time—nerves of steel, man!"

"Indeed sir," Heathcliff said.

Webby bounced up into the open partition. "Hi! I'm Webby!"

As it turned out, there was at least _one_ way to rattle Heathcliff mightily.

* * *

Louie hit the sandbar hard enough to go into a tumbling skid, Dewey and Della rolling behind, Della shrieking in protest when her _broken_-leg failed to hold her weight, Huey touching down last, hugging the box tight to his chest, heaving as he looked behind, trying to see if anyone was following—

Louie laid there, gasping—tried rolling, pushing himself up when _sand_ threatened to get in his mouth and nares and eyes, sticking to his wet facial feathers—dig his beak into the water just a short crawl away—spit it back out when it was salty and nasty and _yuck_.

He didn't want to turn around—didn't want to look, already knew what he was going to see—

He finally rolled to his hip, looked behind bleakly—Dewey was fretting over Della, sitting there and trying to wave him off, Huey staring at the forest behind and upriver, trembling—

A forest that was on fire and echoing with screams.

He should have known—he should have known when Grump came back without 'Kase and 'Dashi, shortly after Webby and Lena and Violet had left to look for them look for Nox, after they had heard their message of _danger-careful-not safe-careful-careful-careful_—Grump had landed hard and heavy in the clearing, careful of one paw before collapsing in a heap.

The olders immediately started fretting and fussing over him—Brittany took the box he had shoved at them—Sashi panicked at the sight of his leg, Huey trying to be helpful and running around the clearing looking for the bitter plant Sashi had made Della chew on—all of them asking what had happened.

_There's no point in trying to explain it to you,_ Grump had grumbled, laying down in a deep sag that suggested he was going to sleep until the next day. _Wait until the others get back._

That made Louie protect the fragile _trust_ deep in his chest, made him ward off the blow angling for it—Grump seemed _sure_ that the others would come back.

That _trust_ started crumbling from within the longer they waited, though.

The olders discussed the box as Grump slept—Louie eavesdropped in a not-obvious way by flopping down in Sue's lap, letting her hug him close and pet his head—none of them thought that he or the others understood, which was a sort-of truth—gleaned from what they said that the _box_ contained some sort of…poison. That's what it had to be, to take away wings take away tail take away feathers—

Maybe the others had gotten the poison. Maybe they were stuck, stranded—maybe they should go find them _right now_—

Louie had forced himself to stay calm, even though all his feathers wilfed down tight to his body and a whimper escaped his beak—despite himself, he had clung tightly to Sue, not wanting to be near the no-good _bad _poison wanting _comfort_—

The angry roaring that had been echoing through the forest sounded again, sounding far away and chasing something else—it still made the olders tighten, made them start herding everyone in close—Louie squawked and cawed, telling the others to _play_ and _tumble_ to distract as the olders did a headcount—

Grump knew, Grump wasn't fooled, Grump was able to do the count before the other olders and demanded to know where Webby and Lena and Violet were.

_Out looking for you,_ Louie had huffed.

Grump seemed to think that was foolish, opened his beak to say so—

And then the first of the dark _things_ crashed through the woods, speeding into the clearing and shooting bright lights that made the underbrush catch fire—

Panic—screaming—everyone scrambling everywhere, Louie rolling to the ground, bouncing back up only for Dewey to crash into him—fly—_sky_ was _safe_—except the dark things were zipping around in the sky, above their heads, forcing them down—

Bigger dark things, things that like the sky-things had no feathers, came charging through next, pointing at them and making _fft_ noises—

Mei shrieked when Beth went crashing down and didn't get back up, wings crumpled limply—crawled out of her arms, shaking her, begging her to _wake up_, wake up _please_—

More came—Louie grabbed onto Dewey, onto Huey when he went skidding in—balled up on the ground, quaking, shrieking, hoping it would be over soon—_'Dashi—'Dashi where was 'Dashi—_

One of the black things came for them—

Was knocked out of the way by flashing sharp claws.

Louie stared, not quite believing—Grump standing over them, wings spread, screaming in outrage, nasty glowing quills sticking out of his fur—

Shoving the box of _poison_ at them.

_Take this and RUN._

That was the last thing he said—the last thing Louie heard any of the olders say—he ramped up, clawing the air, screaming _anger-hurt-DESTROY—_charged the black things, throwing them everywhere—Sue was trying to protect the youngers, trying to wake Beth up—Sashi was at Brittany's side, pulling one of the glowing quills out of her, sobbing—suddenly went down on top of her, more nasty glowing quills bristling out of his back—

Louie, wings draped over Huey and Dewey, making eye contact with a terrified Della belly-crawling to them—they had to run—they had to run—

Running meant leaving the others—the olders that protected them, the youngers that couldn't get away—the thought made him want to retch—

_RUN!_

The shriek ripped out of him—he grabbed Huey, clumsy with the box—Dewey dashed ahead, grabbed Della and hauled her forward—they plunged into the forest, shrieking to follow the river, follow the river to 'Dashi—maybe someone would hear, maybe the youngers would hear and follow—trees were falling, dying from blasts from the flying things harrying them and the fire blazing—

And now he was looking back at the burning forest, feeling sick at himself, hating everything that had prompted the need to run, to leave the others—they were flock were flight and he had led the charge in _abandoning them._

_Trust_ was crumbling to pieces now—where was 'Dashi? 'Dashi was supposed to be good and safe and older-brother and _safe_—Louie had _trusted_ him, and _now_ where was he?

He was shivering now, quaking—wrap his wings tight around himself, arms tight around himself, tail tight around himself, trying to stop the shaking—it wasn't working he was tired he was scared he wanted 'Dashi he wanted any of the olders he didn't want to think about the youngers screaming and crying he wanted them to be all right he wanted all of them to be all right he wanted to go back to before they had even set sight on the bad-woods why had they come here anywhere had been better than here maybe not the bad-place but everywhere else had—

The others were shaking now—Della and Dewey were hugging each other, keening—Huey was sitting there, hugging the box tight, wings limp, shaking so hard that feathers were coming loose—

Louie came up next to him, put wing around him—

Huey collapsed against him, keening so hard it made Louie ache—he started sobbing, sagging against Huey he didn't want this he wanted 'Dashi _where was 'Dashi where he said he'd never let anything happen to them where was he?_

_Trust_ was now crushed-egg.

It was a long time before they were cried out, when Louie separated from Huey and started trying to clear his nares of snot and tears—snorted several times, swallowed, wiped his beak…they couldn't stay here…they couldn't stay here they needed _plan_—

_If we're not back in two days, follow the river down to the bay._

Louie wasn't certain if it had been _two days_, but they _had_ followed the river to the bay, were sitting on a little sandy bar at the mouth of it—

Della made a quiet murmur of amazement, prompting him to turn around, to take note of the thing across the bay that Louie had failed to notice on the mad flight here.

_'Dashi there?_ Huey asked quietly, hugging the box tight as they stared, trying to take in the enormity of the big shining _thing_ in front of them, gleaming over the entire expanse of the water, taking up the whole shore across from them—so many bright lights and colors, flickers of movement—

The crushed-egg crackled a little—'Dashi _could_ be there.

He sniffed, snorted, inhaled deeply to try to get the choking _sad_ out—

Scented something familiar.

Sniff again, sniff carefully at the sand, padding around, seeing where their pawprints crisscrossed with larger pawprints—there, there had been where Grump had flopped down—and here—and here—

_'Dashi!_ And 'Kase! And there, faintly—_Nox!_

Chatter his find to the others—they had definitely been _here_.

Della immediately sat up, chittering that if they had been _here_ that meant they were looking for them they needed to _find them_ especially 'Dashi 'Dashi would fix things—Huey gave a little pained squawk, said that 'Dashi said _two days_ and _day_ was from one _sleep_ to the next and it had only been one he thought Dewey argued that it had been more they had slept more than twice—

Louie flared his wings—it didn't matter, he said—it didn't matter because they needed 'Dashi _now_ if he was so good and safe and older-brother then he'd _be here_ and Louie was willing to give the benefit of _doubt_ because that over there looked big and confusing and scary but they needed 'Dashi they needed 'Dashi _now_—

Dewey stood, pointed at the big scary confusing thing across the water, wings half-furled and expression _fight-win-challenge_—declared that they ought to go _to_ the big scary confusing thing and get 'Dashi _back_ 'Dashi would fix this 'Dashi was good and safe and older-brother—

Louie flapped again, squawking, thinking—if big scary confusing thing was big and scary and confusing enough to swallow 'Dashi then they shouldn't but they couldn't stay _here_ the bad-woods were _not safe_ and everyone else was either snatched or—

He cut himself off before he could finish the _or_ thought—if he didn't think it didn't voice it then it wasn't true.

Which meant that he had to act like it was so, that the others were good and safe and good and would be coming to them soon.

Ruffle feathers, resettle wings, beginnings of _plan_ starting to drift together to touch and connect like flock like flight—chitter and squeak tentative _plan_ to the others: half would stay here for the rest of flock of flight, at least for now, while half would go look for 'Dashi and 'Kase and Nox.

There was much chittering and arguing and squawking over who would go—Louie beat his wings again, squawking for _pay attention_—he knew Dewey would see this as _adventure-challenge_ would want to go in fighting everything and Della would too but Della's _broken_-leg would slow them down—told them they were going to stay here and keep an eye out he was sure they could keep an eye out for the others and get them if they saw them—

Huey was wilfed down to nothing and trembling when Louie looked at him, Huey had figured out who was going when Louie insisted that Della and Dewey stay Huey was _scared-afraid-terrified_ would be nervous and squeaky going in would be terrified—

Which was what made Louie trust Huey to go in. Huey would listen to Louie, would not run up to every strange thing and shriek _CHALLENGE_, would stay close to Louie and help keep eye out for _danger-bad-danger _and 'Dashi and 'Kase and Nox. Louie hugged him, small grooming that said everything would be _good-okay-good_—Huey relaxed a little, struggled up on shaky wobbly legs, gave a weak chirp to say _ready_—

Della asked what they planned on doing with the poison.

Louie narrowed his eyes at the box, already planning on throwing it in _bay_ or burying it—was cut off by Huey saying they'd take it to 'Dashi 'Dashi would know what to do 'Dashi would know what to do with _poison_ 'Dashi was good and safe and older-brother and smart he'd know what to do—

It wasn't worth arguing, Huey had _box_ hugged tight to him—turned to Della and Dewey, Dewey asking how long they should wait—

_Day_, Louie decided—that was when 'Dashi said to come here, 'Dashi would probably come here if they didn't find him or something else hadn't found him, the others knew to come here, and if no one showed up by then they knew something had happened but hide where could see and wait _day_.

Dewey and Della hugged him, hugged Huey, all of them hugged and pressed together in the safety that was flock was flight—Louie trembled, not wanting to leave this not wanting to fly into _danger-unknown-danger_—he wanted 'Dashi to drop down out of _sky_, scoop them up, take them to others nice and safe and good, somewhere that wasn't the bad-woods, somewhere like _cabin_ where they were good and safe and warm and happy-full and dry-dry-dry and warm—

Except that wasn't happening. It wasn't happening, and they had to take care of themselves, like Louie thought they had always been doomed to be.

Except he was going to look for 'Dashi, because he was _tired_ of apathetically waiting for bad-fate, he was going to fight against it, he was going to make things better.

Now if only making things better didn't involve doing scary-things.

They finally broke away from hug, Dewey pointing out spot on shore nearby where they could hide and keep watch—Louie watched as Dewey and Della hop-lofted to that spot, gingerly spread his own wings…looked north—he could tell _north_ again!—looked north to see _fire_ eating the forest angrily, choking the sky with smoke.

_South_ didn't seem safe either, but south was where 'Dashi might be, and they needed 'Dashi.

Soft whistle to Huey, and then they jumped in the air, flapping hard to get high into _sky_ and away from lazily lapping waves that could grab wing and suck down hard, up high into _sky_ where it was _safe_—

And then powering for the big scary confusing thing, where they were sure 'Dashi was.

They had to be right, Louie thought, gritting beak and teeth and clenching paws. They had to find 'Dashi.

Because 'Dashi would make everything better—'Dashi would make everything good and safe and good again.

Louie just had to _trust_ that it would be so.


	39. Respite and Reveals

**Chapter 39, everybody! And I think in my writing up on this I might be getting close to having it entirely written out…might bump it up to posting twice a week once that happens but in the meantime know that we have updates clean into the new year. :D**

**Continuing blanket disclaimer: I still have not finished Season Two. We're flying blind, boys. And again, a good chunk of these chapters were written before I had been able to bring myself to watch "Countdown to Catastrophe"…and in other news, yes I'm still in denial of the end of "Countdown to Catastrophe" don't at me. D:**

**Kinda gotta giggle at Fred making a reference to that morning—which would be about five chapters back at this point. XD Also, Honey Lemon comparing Nox to Knox was me getting to the San Fransokyo part of the story and going ****_I…totally forgot that was that guy's name._**** ^^; And Gogo and Wasabi are channeling Riley and Danny from the pilot episode of ****_Baby Daddy._**** Love that show. :D**

**In other news, those shiny food covers, like the strandline, were one of those things where I went ****_I know there's gotta be a proper name for that._**** In this case, they're called cloches. Why would Hiro know this? Probably Aunt Cass, if I had to guess.**** And again, we're going for the fanon explanation for Honey Lemon's real name...and the K-turn comes from _Kim Possible_.**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! No it isn't! And you might have to take a number (do you still have your old one?). Of course—Baymax is a good healthcare marshmallow. Me too (I may be writing it, but I still have the same ****_oh bleep_**** moments the rest of you do). ^^;**

**Hexyah, thanks for the review! Ah, that makes more sense. XD It did, and made me really love some of the earlier reviews (honestly there were times it killed me not to say something). Louie definitely needs a hug, and Tadashi will definitely blame himself because he's Like That™. Ah, thank you! It was fun to write. :D**

**SilverPhoenix, thanks for the review! Yes…yes he did. And will this make it to the news, I wonder….**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

While Hiro and Fred were in the woods looking, the others were searching for bird-people in the city.

It was slow going.

"My guess is they took off," Gogo said, glancing at the second Baymax helmet Hiro had jury-rigged before setting off. "If the little one is this skittish, I can't imagine the bigger ones sticking around."

"Is that normal though?" Wasabi asked, freeing up a hand from the steering wheel to gesture briefly. "You said birds divebomb people that get too close to their nest—wouldn't they be hunting for the kid?"

She considered. "Maybe—most of the time if a bird drops from the nest and disappears the parents give it up as a bad job and focus on their other babies."

"Oh great, so there could be _more."_

_"That is why Fred and Hiro are looking in the woods,"_ Honey Lemon put in. _"How are things down there?"_

"No sign of them," Gogo said, scanning the streets. "How do things look up there?"

_"Very peaceful—I think I'm going to have to talk to Hiro about changing things up, I like it up here."_

_"Thank you,"_ Baymax said. _"I have detected no signs of: bird-people, over section four."_

Gogo pulled out the map and crossed out another section. "Hope Fred and Hiro are having better luck."

"Do we?" Wasabi asked, stopping at a stop sign before turning down a side road. "Remember about the divebombing if they get too close to the nest? _Remember how big the others were?"_

Gogo felt her mouth twist—she wanted to argue that having the bird-kid might stop them, that the bird-people might be capable of higher reasoning…except the bird-kid was practically feral, didn't seem all that intelligent even with what Hiro had reported….

And they had to consider Professor Knox, consider High Voltage, consider the rapid deterioration in intelligence after monsterfication. The people that the monsters had been could possibly be intelligent, rational people.

The monsters they turned into would likely not be.

"Let's worry about that when we get there," she decided. "Which doesn't look like it'll be tonight."

"At least that blue one can't snatch me in the car," Wasabi said, eyeing the skies nervously.

"_You_ keep your eyes on the road."

The helmet pinged.

They looked at it sharply—started scanning outside, Wasabi slowing to a crawl and keeping an eye on the skies, Gogo scanning at ground level…didn't see anything. Maybe a flash of color disappearing around a corner down a side alley, but it was low enough it could have been a cat.

"Make the next turn up here," she suggested, pointing. Wasabi put on his blinker—

_"I have just received a message from: Heathcliff,"_ Baymax announced. _"They are heading back to Fred's place. Fred and Hiro: have found something."_

They exchanged sharp glances—Gogo motioned for him to turn around.

"We're on our way," she announced as Wasabi executed a K-turn. "And we're marking this part of the city to pick up on later."

"_You saw something?"_ Honey Lemon asked.

"The helmet pinged—I don't know, we might have been close."

"Do you think they found anything friendly?" Wasabi asked.

"Let's hope so."

* * *

Hiro was alerted to the fact that he had dozed off when Fred shook him awake again.

"Hiro, we're here."

Hiro blinked blearily, aware of the fact that they had stopped, that there was a wing draped over him, a warm body curled up against him, and that most everything hurt.

"Urgh," Hiro noised, trying to roll upright—wing pinning him down and stiff muscles collaborated against him on this point. "The other guy feels worse, right?"

Fred made a face, hugging something to his chest. "Well, Ned's all scratched up, so maybe? I don't know, I'm just guessing at this point," he said, looking at a large bird sitting next to him.

The last few hours came crashing back into Hiro's recollection when the bird leaned over him and asked "Okay 'Dashi-Hiro okay?"

"Uh," he noised, trying to get upright, pushing up against the wing draped across him—the body next to him squirmed, stretched—wing folding back into place as their bird-kid—Nox—sat up, sending another wing slipping off him—another bird-kid rolled upright, mumbling and rubbing at its eyes. Managed to struggle the rest of the way up. "I'm guessing I didn't dream up Muirahara Woods going up in smoke."

"Nah, unfortunately," Fred said. "Man, that was…intense…I don't know, I had a good run going describing it earlier."

"Bad-bad-no good-_bad,_" Webby said.

"That works," Fred said. "At least until I get some sleep and come up with something alliterative and multisyllabic."

Hiro nodded, barely registering Nox pressed tight against his back, wing half-around him and hands bunching up his hoodie, making quiet noises and feeling as exhausted as Hiro did—

Everyone started when the door slid open.

"My apologies," Heathcliff said, upon taking in how everyone was—the bigger bird-kid, Lena, was puffed up and hissing with wings mantled, trying to push Webby behind her. "I've taken the liberty of opening the garage door to the backyard."

"Hey, any steps to shorten the distance between me and a couch is A-Okay in my book, Heathcliff," Fred said, scootching for the door. "Come on, my dudes, we'll be safe here."

"No," Violet said, burying her face against Fred's shoulder.

"Nah man, it's okay," Fred said, patting her back. "It's just the garage, little dudette, we'll be fine."

"No," Webby agreed, pulling on Fred's shirt. "No no bad—"

Hiro sighed, slipped out of the car—Nox squeaked in alarm, managed to hook his claws in Hiro's hoodie—

Hiro stopped, no energy left to scold or try to pull away, looking down in total exhaustion at _that face_….

That face that was looking up at him in terror and worry, having just survived a trying ordeal, now disoriented and in a place he didn't know, looking up at him with an expression that clearly said _don't leave me._

He couldn't begrudge the kid that.

"Come on," he said, reaching with his other hand to tug on the hand still clinging to the carpet, slipping under the palm and slowly working the claws free as he talked. "It's Fred's place—you remember Fred's place." Saw the nervous glancing—"Come on, it'll be all right."

Nox's eyes flicked, still terrified—focused on him again, ears flicking now….

Finally crawled out of the limo, clinging tight to him. Hiro sighed, put an arm around him for lack of anything better to do with the limb at the moment. Lena hesitated…squawked when Webby slipped out of the car and over.

"Bad," she announced. "Snff _ick_ bad—"

"That's just car smells," Hiro said, as Lena finally minced out.

"Shall I prepare refreshments?" Heathcliff asked.

"Yeah, that'd be great," Fred said, finally able to get out of the car. "The rest of the team should be here soon."

"I will prepare for their arrival, Master Frederick."

"Great," Hiro said, slowly shuffling for the open door—bird-kids clinging to him made movement awkward. Finally reach the door, outside, fresh air—

"See?" Hiro asked, tapping Nox. "Fred's place. Like I said."

Nox made noises that might have been recognition, felt like he was relaxing slightly…chirped and pointed at the patio.

"Yeah," Hiro said, angling that way. "Now let's go—there's a couch with my name on it. Or, you know, I'll take a piece of floor at this point."

"I. Am going to sleep. _SO hard,"_ Fred agreed, sliding the door shut behind them. "My dudes that had to be the _worst_ experience I ever had in a forest. Like, _ever_. And that counts nearly being eaten by a bear the last time or that one time at camp where I screwed up identifying poison oak—_that itches SO BAD."_

Hiro was more focused on getting up the steps without falling over, wondering idly if he looked anything like drunk Baymax trying to deal with the same thing—Nox had let go, scurried up the steps and sat there chirping, encouraging Webby and Lena to follow—made it to the top of the steps, using his hands to crawl a bit away from the edge before flopping down on his back.

"You know what? I've decided I'll take the floor for now," Hiro announced.

"Hard same," Fred said, flopping down next to him. "Ugh, what a day. And it started off so nice too—your aunt makes some killer blueberry scones, just want to put that out there."

"Mmm," Hiro noised, listening to the bird-kids—look over to see Nox sitting on the little bed they had set up the first night, kneading it like Mochi would and chirping and burbling at the others. Webby seemed interested, poking at the bed; Lena kept shooting Hiro looks, like she couldn't decide whether or not he was okay. Sigh, look back up—

Saw a very familiar rocket booster angling overhead.

Nudge Fred, sit up—"Baymax!"

The robot in question came to a landing in a clear spot on the patio—Hiro quickly assured the bird-kids it was all right, they looked ready to bolt—got to his feet as Fred scrambled upright.

"Honey Lemon!" Fred greeted, as she slid off of Baymax and came running over.

"Hiro we _really_ need to talk about cycling travelling with Baymax—are you guys all right?" she asked, slowing to a halt, concern starting to erase her relief at seeing them.

Baymax seemed to share this concern. _"On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?"_

Hiro started to say he was fine…stopped. He didn't believe it, knew they didn't, knew he had to look like he ran all over the woods and nearly died doing so.

"I don't know," Hiro admitted finally. "Where on the scale is exhaustion?"

"We had a whole thing," Fred added. "It wasn't to the point of…you know, talking meteors but…."

Webby popped up between them. "Hi! I'm Webby!"

Honey Lemon was just as startled as Heathcliff was, Baymax was not. _"Hello. I am Baymax."_

"Bhh-mhh," Webby said, pointing at Baymax. Looked at Hiro.

"Yes, Baymax is a friend," Hiro sighed.

"Also, as you can see, we found more bird-people," Fred said, pointing at Violet clinging to him. "Also, our bird-kid is named Nox. Which wasn't in the running, but what the hey."

"Like Professor Knox?" Honey Lemon asked, looking confused—looked back down at Webby tugging on her. "Hello."

"Hi! I'm Webby!" Webby chimed.

"You have to tell her your name, otherwise she keeps repeating that," Hiro offered.

"Oh," Honey Lemon noised, crouching a bit to get on Webby's level. "Hi Webby—I'm Honey Lemon."

"Haah-neee," Webby said. "Haa-hmm."

_"Honey Lemon,"_ Fred offered. "It's like…four syllables. Hon-ee leh-mun."

"It might be too much for her, like with our bird-kid—I mean Nox," Honey Lemon said, before looking back at Webby. "How about Aiko? Is that all right for you to say? _Aiko_."

"Aiko!" Webby repeated.

"That's great! You can call me Aiko."

"Aiko Aiko Aiko!" Webby cheered, before flopping against Honey Lemon in a hug.

"Aw, she's adorable," Honey Lemon said, returning the hug.

"Announcing Master Wasabi and Madame Gogo," Heathcliff said from the French doors.

"Uh…yeah," Wasabi said, seeming as confused by that as Hiro had been. "So how did you guys _HOGEEZ!"_

They hadn't noticed Lena and Nox until Wasabi glanced over—he startled back, tripping over one of the chairs, Lena and Nox flinched back, hissing, Lena puffed up with her wings mantled—

Webby was over and on Wasabi and hissing before any of them could process it.

"WOAH wait _NO no eating Wasabi!"_ Hiro squawked, running over.

Baymax followed, lifted Webby off of Wasabi, looked down at him. _"On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?"_

"I'll let you know after everything starts working again," Wasabi wheezed.

"Get up," Gogo said, hauling him upright—and then glancing at Webby, now perched on Baymax's shoulder and screeching. "I see you found more bird-kids."

"Yeah," Hiro sighed. "It was…a thing."

"It was," Fred agreed, getting on Wasabi's other side and waving at Webby. "Okay, to all bird-kids: this is Wasabi. We _like_ Wasabi. Wasabi is a nice guy."

"'Zabi!" Webby declared.

"Yes. This is Wasabi. Remember what I said about him being nice and not traumatizing him by tackling him."

"Seriously?" Wasabi asked—flinched back when he saw Violet watching him. "Uh, hi?"

Violet leaned off of Fred, arms stretched towards Wasabi. "Up!"

"Uh yeah no bye," Wasabi said, shuffling away.

Violet patted Fred on the shoulder, pointed after Wasabi. "Up!"

"Okay no I gotcha," Fred said, pursuing Wasabi.

"Fred, _no_—" Wasabi squawked—

"Sorry Wasabi, but she insists."

"Will you two _grow up?"_ Gogo demanded. "_You_ stay. You—gimme," she said, taking Violet—and then turning around and sticking her on Wasabi.

"Ahh no no I'm not for this—" Wasabi squeaked.

"Hands go here," Gogo said, putting Wasabi's hands under Violet. Not that she needed to do so—Violet was clinging on tight, hung there for a bit before climbing up on his shoulder.

Wasabi was hunched up in terror. "I can't see her—what's she doing?"

"She's just sitting there," Gogo said.

"Enjoying the view," Fred added.

Violet _was_ looking around—at least until she focused on Wasabi's hair and started playing with it.

"_Now_ what's she doing?" Wasabi asked.

"Styling your dreads?" Violet started nibbling on his hair. "Okay now she's kind of chewing on them."

"Okaythat'sitgetheroff," Wasabi wheezed.

"No," Violet said, when Fred reached for her.

"Sorry bud, she's spoken," Fred said, looking at Wasabi.

_"Will you get her off of me!?" _Wasabi demanded.

Fred reached for her again, only for Violet to slip onto Wasabi's back. "Um—"

_"AAAH no get her off get her off!"_

Violet hung on for dear life, and Hiro wasn't entirely certain she wasn't squealing with delight. Especially when Webby ran up and jumped on Wasabi too, cheering _'ZABI!_

Gogo finally stopped him, peeled Webby off and put her on the ground before doing the same to Violet.

"Hi! I'm Webby!" Webby said to Gogo.

"You're also trouble," Gogo said, looking at her. "So what is the story even?"

Hiro started to answer—was stopped by Baymax telling him he needed to be out of his armor to better tend to Hiro's healthcare needs. "Yeah sure—Fred, explain."

"Right!" Fred said, before pointing at Gogo. "Gogo."

"Gogo," Webby repeated.

"Correct! And this is Webby, Violet, Lena—and our bird-kid is Nox. Not like Professor Knox I don't think. And that's everyone introduced—wait." Pause, doing a mental tally. "No yeah that's everyone."

Gogo slapped him upside the head. "Explain about _finding_ the bird-kids."

"And _please_ tell me this is it," Wasabi added.

"Uh, yeah…no," Fred said. "There's like…twenty total…."

"Oh great wonderful that's _great_ news."

"And Muirahara Woods is kind of on fire…because someone else is after the bird-people too we're thinking Sycorax but Krei was there too so we're not like, a _hundred_ percent sure. Also, Ned is a monster-Ned now."

It was silent enough that Hiro could _hear_ Baymax scanning him.

"You were gone like two hours," Gogo said finally, tone intimating that she couldn't believe they had managed that much trouble in that little time—waved Fred off when he opened his mouth. "I know, I know—so now we have twenty bird-people period. Three from the other night plus these four…that's thirteen we haven't seen yet, sixteen unaccounted for."

"And the woods," Honey Lemon said, sitting down in a nearby chair. "Poor Ned."

"Poor Ned—poor _us_," Hiro said, wincing as Baymax cleaned up his scratches—okay, so some of them felt kind of deep now that the adrenaline was dead. "Ned nearly _ate us._ And then we nearly fell off a cliff."

"And then some trees fell on us," Fred added. "Also, there was a lot of running, and then _more_ trees falling, and the explosions…."

The others listened as Fred gave the abbreviated version of their mad dash through the woods.

"But at least we got _these_ guys out, so…good news," Fred said, indicating the bird-kids, now all squashed together and watching Fred. "I think. Unless you're a chandelier. Or a French door."

"Fwah," Webby said finally.

"No, _French._ It's like a regular door, only there's two of them and they swing out."

"Well it's more than what we found," Gogo said, watching the bird-kids. "The second helmet pinged while we were looking, but…." She sighed. "I'm not sure about almost two dozen of these."

"I'm definitely not sure I have my limits when it comes to potential heights okay?" Wasabi asked.

"Yes, okay, we got it, you've said it a dozen times since we started. Anyone else have anything they want to share?"

"Yeah," Hiro said, not looking at them. "So…Fred's right, about the cloning…."

"I am?" Fred asked, sounding excited. "All right! How was I right?"

"Nox is a clone," Hiro said, glancing at the bird-kid in question, currently half-buried under Lena's wing and hugging her close. Continuing would change things but…but he needed to share why everything had taken a one-eighty last night. "O-of Obake."

That statement got the dead silence he had been expecting. As one, everyone turned to look at Nox, who hissed lightly at the attention, like he could sense the attitude had shifted, Lena puffing up and hissing louder.

Fred reacted first.

"So it _is_ like the Spider-Man clone wars _eeeee I didn't think I'd get to tick this one off the superhero bucket list aaaaah—"_

"And we've lost Fred," Gogo announced.

Honey Lemon crouched down to better look at Nox, looked at Hiro with concern. "Are you sure? He…I'm not sure if I see it…."

Baymax looked at Nox, blinked, looked down at his chest. _"Nox: has an eighty-seven-point-oh-one percent match to the genetic signature of the individual known as: Obake."_ Blink back at the bird-kids—_"Lena: also has genetic similarities to: Obake, although much less."_

Hiro looked up at Baymax. "Seriously?"

_"Yes. She also has genetic similarities to: Momakase."_

"So," Fred noised, pointing. "That means that _technically_ she's evidence to the Obakase ship _yes TOTALLY called it—"_

_"FRED!"_ Gogo barked, sounding a thousand-percent done.

"But um," Wasabi said, hedging. "It's just like…genetic signature. Not…you know…_everything else."_

Hiro sighed, sagging, resting his head against Baymax. "No, it's nothing else, it was just…kind of a shock." Was blearily aware of Honey Lemon watching the bird-kids carefully…nodding finally.

"They're just kids," she said, looking at the rest of them. "Just because we know their genetic donor…that doesn't mean they're…like _that."_

"But this _does_ put a cool spin on the villain-redemption story," Fred said—right before he got his ear yanked by Gogo. _"OW!"_

Hiro made a face at that, looked at the bird-kids when he caught Honey Lemon watching him with concern—glanced up when Heathcliff came out pushing a food cart.

"I've brought refreshments, Master Fredrick," Heathcliff announced, putting trays on a low table.

_"Excellent,"_ Fred said, pumping the air even with being bent half-backwards. "Who's ready for some munchies?"

Nox, apparently—Nox had apparently learned to link those food covers (_cloches_, his mind unhelpfully dredged up) with food, chirped—

The other three bird-kids immediately snapped their attention around, zeroing in on the spread.

"Uh, Heathcliff?" Hiro offered. "Run."

* * *

Nox wasn't sure what the olders were all being hedgy and worried about. Yes, 'Dashi was still _not here_. Yes, Nox's wing was still _broken_. Yes, something had attacked them and all of that was bad-bad-no good-_bad._

But he wasn't _only_ anymore—and it wasn't the not-only of Maybe-'Dashi's-Hiro who was only _MAYBE_ flock maybe flight—this was Lena and Violet and Webby and this was _relief_ so strong and much that he was going to fall asleep right _here_ against Lena tucked in tight under her wing wrapped around him arms wrapped around him he was safe-safe-safe and that was good-good-good and he was not moving for _nothing._

And then _Heathcliff_ came out with big silvery sliding thing, putting lots of SHINY things on a small ledge, pulling SHINY off—

_Food._

Nox may have had several good-good-good meals that left him _full_ in the past couple of days, but that didn't stop him from rushing the _food_ with the others—because now it was proper _food_, it was _scrabble_ to get _food_ before others did and that felt _right_—

Violet grabbed big handfuls of what Fwah had called _grapes_, stuffed them in her mouth, spitting out _seed_ and _stem_ and licking her beak to keep the juice from escaping—Nox managed to get a _pancake_ before Webby claimed them, pulling them to her, squawking at Lena when she snatched one off the top and stuffed it in her beak—

And then Violet tried one of the things with _straw_ sticking out of it, sucking on it after Fwah showed how it worked—eyes went wide, startling Nox into a squawk—

Violet gave an awed shriek—_good-good-good-good—_grabbed the other things like the one she had and scurried away, squawking that these were _hers_ no one else's—

That, of course, was an open invitation—the rest of them scrambled after her, tripping over each other and squawking, sending 'Dashi's-Hiro scurrying away and 'Zabi shrieking up off the ground—Violet reached the side of the nest-thing, dug her claws in, hauled herself up to sit on top of the thing-that-made-light but wasn't _fire_, hugging the things with _straw_ in them and squawking _hers_ these were _hers mine-mine-mine no one else's HERS good-good hers—_the rest of them trying to scramble after her, squawking when the no-feather olders peeled them off the wall and hauled them off—

Another no-feather came out, this one radiating _authority_—everyone immediately went quiet, attention focused on her.

The no-feather that radiated _authority_ looked them over, what looked like pretty shimmering white _clothes_ on, hands on hips—spotted Violet sitting on the thing-that-made-light but wasn't _fire_.

"Down," she said sternly, pointing—Violet nearly fell scrambling to obey.

"Uh, hi Mom," Fwah said, Nox still dangling heavily from his arms. "We were just, um—"

Fwah quailed under the even _look_ he was getting from the no-feather Fwah's-Mom.

"As for the four of you," Fwah's-Mom said, focusing on Nox, Lena, Webby, and Violet. "I saw your behavior from inside, you will _sit_ at that table and you will eat _calmly_. Understood?"

They were very quick to chatter _yes-no-sorry-yes_, scrambling to _sit_ next to the _food_, watching her carefully—she felt like Beth and Sue when they got _serious-behave-mind_ tone, and that never was a tone they wanted to fully argue with—Nox wasn't sure, but he felt like it would end badly.

"Woah, go Mom," Fwah said, staring along with the older no-feathers and 'Dashi's-Hiro and Baymax. "That was like—a superpower or something."

"Yeah—how?" 'Dashi's-Hiro asked.

"My origin story was becoming a mother," Fwah's-Mom said. "Don't let them fight like that again, and remember what I said about keeping them out of the begonias."

"Right Mom!" Fwah said, giving her a thumb's-up as she went back inside the nest. They watched her go—Violet tipped her head in _consider_, inhaled—Lena held her beak shut.

Gogo pointed after Fwah's-Mom, looked at Fwah. "Let me get this straight: your _mom_ is aware of the bird-people in her backyard?"

"Moms know everything," Fwah said with absolute conviction. "Plus we kind of had to tell her—I needed to explain the door and the chandelier, at least."

They tried eating _food_ again, this time slower and without squawking, tried to at least food was good and if you didn't get it in your mouth right away it disappeared—Violet was ignoring it all though, Violet was busy sucking down on what Fwah had called _milkshake_ and squawking whenever one of the others tried to take one saying they were _hers_ no one else's—

_Food_ was eventually gone, Violet climbed up on one of the soft-ledges the older no-feathers called _couch_, hugging one of the _milkshake_ close to bulging belly as she snuggled up in a soft corner, dozing—Webby considered, tried tugging—Violet growled without opening her eyes.

Nox whistled and chirped _play_, Webby immediately spun to face him shrieking _challenge-accept-YES_—Lena ignored them both, Lena was still busy watching the older no-feathers with _suspicion_ because she had no-trust for them and _question_—

Nox and Webby rolled and tumbled, tackled Lena, scurried away from her as the older no-feathers dodged in between conversation—they were talking like the olders in their flock their flight did and with happy-full belly and familiar-sounding murmur and Webby and Lena and Violet Nox almost felt safe-warm-okay—

All he needed was 'Dashi. Was the rest of the flock the flight. Grump, even.

Lena caught him, tackled him, rolled him, started poking—he squeaked and squealed, flailing, worry beyond getting Lena off of him quickly banished from his thoughts—he wasn't _only_ anymore, the others had looked for him had missed him had _found_ him—'Dashi would be soon, 'Dashi would be right behind and finding them and everything would be good-safe-okay be _right_ again—

Webby tackled Lena, Nox rolled upright and dashed away, circled around to tackle them, hugging tight and squealing, rolling and batting and chasing and playing until finally Violet's idea of curling up on soft-ledge seemed like great idea only for a moment just until his eyes stopped being tired and he wasn't so sleepy—

Crawl up on soft-ledge, snuggle in close next to Violet, chin resting on her shoulder, wishing he was at an angle he could spread good-wing over her—Violet growled softly, hugging _milkshake_ close and expecting _trick_ but still sleepy enough that she didn't open her eyes—Webby crawled up, snuggled in close next, Lena following, spreading wing over them, curled up so she was resting her head against Webby but still watching the older no-feathers still no-trust but she sensed the familiarity too so she wasn't sure….

Honey-Lemon-Aiko draped _blanket_ over them, tucking it in close, cutting cool _air-breeze-soft_ away from chilling feathers and skin—Nox warbled _yes-good-thank you_, settling in closer…this wasn't 'Dashi, but it was others it was flock was flight was Webby was Violet was Lena wasn't him being _only_ and hoping and begging for anyone to come find him before _she_ did and took him back to the bad-place the terror was there but it was so much reduced and quiet in the back of his mind—

He finally fell asleep, into a sleep with no nightmares.


	40. Distracted by the Shiny

**Chapter 40, everybody! And I think in my writing up on this I might be getting close to having it entirely written out…might bump it up to posting twice a week once that happens but in the meantime know that we have updates clean into the new year—and to this fic's first anniversary. :D**

**Continuing blanket disclaimer: I still have not finished Season Two. We're flying blind, boys. And again, a good chunk of these chapters were written before I had been able to bring myself to watch "Countdown to Catastrophe"…and in other news, yes I'm still in denial of the end of "Countdown to Catastrophe" don't at me. D:**

**Okay, so part of this chapter was another chunk that was written ahead of everything else—did it after ****_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_**** was on the TV, I think, and I was picturing Tadashi in Newt's place during the Niffler scene. XD In other news, Louie DEFINITELY has some thieving genes in him. Also those cops have the same energy as the two I met at the one comic-con I went to where I asked them if they were real cops. Response: "I am, he's just dressed as one." Other cop: "Hey!"**

**In other news…when I wrote that bit we were ****_NOT_**** in the middle of a quarantine that turned all major cities into ghost towns. Personally, I was thinking more of the ****_Spider-Man 2_**** video game on GameCube—Mom has watched me play it a few times and always commented on how ****_empty_**** it is compared to the real New York (unless it's Sunday). Well now it's accurate. X'D**

**Also it's never nailed down just how old Tadashi is, just that he's a minimum of eighteen (since at the beginning of the movie he's incarcerated with the rest of the bot-fighters instead of with Hiro). ****_Theoretically_****, if we take "Legacies" into account, he's old enough to get a degree, so early twenties…this fic, however, does ****_NOT_**** take "Legacies" into account so…18-20, I think.**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! AHHHH THANK YOU! :D Yes and yes—AND YES! OBAKASE IS FANON! XD Maybe—I'm sure ****_someone_**** in Sycorax has been playing fast and loose with DNA. That's a good point—Baymax, nerd us about birbs. Thanks again—and good! Keep that number close. :D**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

Louie was not liking this place one bit, not at _all._

For one, it smelled. All of it. For another, there was too much noise and light and movement HOW were they supposed to find 'Dashi in this _HOW_.

But he had to at least _pretend_ that yes they could find 'Dashi in this awful maze that wasn't _canyon_ or _forest_ or anything they had ever encountered with ground that was hurting to their feet and too much noise and light and movement and _those things had no feathers no wings no tail what is this place_—had to pretend because it was getting much-much-much too much for Huey, who was molting in fear almost—

Louie could bait Nox or Lena or Webby or Della or Dewey, could tease that they were being wet-hatchling and cajole them into continuing on. Not Huey—Huey needed reassurance, needed to be told that everything was good-okay-good needed _hug_ and groom and _it's all right_…hadn't really recovered from the bad-place and the pain of being _only_.

Neither had Louie, to tell the truth.

But right now that wasn't the important thing—right now the important thing was finding 'Dashi in this mess think-think-think 'Dashi liked walking over flying for some unknown reason _WHY_ but there were too many new smells to parse through but he had to try had to think this place was HUGE _why_ hadn't he asked Grump about where they had been he wasn't even certain if Grump would have told them why didn't he at least _try_—

Because he hadn't expected being attacked. 'Dashi had kept them _good-safe-good_ for so long that the fear of _her_ finding them and hurting them had faded to background noise.

That fear was overwhelming now, beating down on him making his wings heavy making him want to curl up and weep and cry and shriek for _flock-flight-HELP_—but he couldn't afford to do that, he had to be strong for Huey had to keep scraping and scrabbling for _idea_ for _plan_ for _scheme_ for _trick_ for _SOMETHING—_

Kept going, away from loud buffeting noises and lights, found darker quieter part of strange-huge-thing—touched down, snuggled against each other, focusing on catching breath and calming heartbeat, trembling and wilfed down to nothing, squeaking with fear and worry—

_Want 'Dashi,_ Huey squeaked, sniffling.

_Me too,_ Louie admitted, hugging Huey close, focusing on making his breathing even hoping Huey would follow suit—calm-calm-calm panicking ruined _scheme_ ruined _trick_ ruined _plan_ calm-calm-calm _think—_

Big-scary-thing was big was scary was confusing but 'Dashi didn't think like they did didn't approach things like they did 'Dashi had had to be shown how to _scratch_ at bark at rock to keep nails healthy but 'Dashi had seemed to know about things knew how to handle things knew what was safe and good and what was _no don't touch_—'Dashi wasn't overwhelmingly curious like they were, more concerned with keeping them safe over anything else.

Which meant that for 'Dashi to come here, 'Dashi had to have a reason.

No-good bad _poison_ was not a good reason, Louie felt, glaring at the box Huey refused to put down. There had to be reason though, 'Dashi thought things through talked things through had been convinced they'd be back in a couple of _day_ which was from one _sleep_ to the next—_think—_

But no matter how much he clawed and ripped at the thought at what he knew what he had what he knew about 'Dashi and this place—no matter how much he tried he couldn't figure out reasoning couldn't figure out _why_ why-why-_why_ would 'Dashi come here—

Maybe Louie had made _mistake_. Maybe 'Dashi hadn't come here, maybe 'Dashi was somewhere else entirely and he was risking Huey risking himself coming here—

Tense at the sound of one of those monsters, the one in the rain the kind that they had slept in a dead one once the kind that was all over this strange-place—the sort of low grumbling that suggested slow hunting-tracking-sneaking—

Shove at Huey, hissing _go-go-go_—slip away down a corner, out into _open_ which was good because _sky_ but bad because it could rush them—look around, ears perked senses straining—hiss to run _that_ way because the bad-thing was the other way—

Huey hustled, not looking back wilfed down to nothing—Louie ran after him, glancing everywhere worrying bad-place bad-place not as bad as _THE_ bad-place but bad-no good-bad—

Skid to a halt as something caught his eye—look—

_SHINY_.

* * *

Tadashi was very much _not_ liking how things were going.

Let's start with losing Nox and not being able to track him down, with the knowledge that he was possibly injured and definitely scared. Couple that with being pursued by Sycorax goons, that monster that attacked them in the sewers, 'Kase getting her wings cut by her thieving original (now _there_ was a rare sentence)—

And the fact that he was certain they were past their due-date now, that everyone would be making their way to the bay where it was more exposed—they were going to have to go back, but the idea of abandoning Nox made him sick.

But 'Kase was slowed down too, hence them sneaking around at ground level—it was probably worth going back, maybe getting Brittany's help—maybe Nox was there and he was panicking over nothing.

That was 'Kase's opinion as well—but then again, she was ready to abandon San Fransokyo after the whale-monster come to think of it so was he what the _eff_ was that even.

Hence why Tadashi was okay with working their way back to the bay after a few fruitless hours.

"We can still look," he justified as they picked their way along, sticking to the quieter side alleys and streets—also, bird-feet were _not_ suited to walking on concrete and asphalt he just wanted to get that out there.

"And here I thought we were going to the movies and a five-star restaurant," 'Kase muttered, sticking close and looking everywhere, occasionally tentatively flapping her wings.

"Maybe later." Eye her flapping again. "And when we get to a wider street we can try flying again. Or, you know, try for a roof again."

"Good luck," she said. "Cities are always crowded—except maybe Sundays. And we already saw what a mess being on a fire escape is."

Meaning him getting his talons caught in the grating and having to work himself free—bonus points for the one guy getting ready to come out, bottle of beer in hand, before spotting him, looking at the bottle, then back at him.

"Now see, I thought I took that well."

"Telling the guy _yo what's up_ isn't taking it well."

"Hey it _worked_." Mostly because the guy went straight back in, shut the window, locked it, and pulled the blinds for good measure.

'Kase huffed in response, stiffened as they neared the end of the alley.

"It's okay—I'll check, and then we'll get out of here," he assured her.

"'Dashi wait—something doesn't feel right."

No it didn't, not with how empty the street looked, but the sooner they got out and regrouped with the others, the better.

"Two minutes, okay? Two minutes," he said, slipping out of the alley to examine the street, trying to put his feet down like Nox had showed him—

Stomach twisted at that thought—if anything had happened to him—

_Crash—tinkle—crish._

Tadashi froze at the sound, looked—didn't see anyone down the street…carefully made his way down, listening carefully….

He wasn't _entirely_ certain what made him look in the window of the jewelry store, but he did—

To see Louie standing there, jewelry draped all over him, stock-still and watching him out of the corner of his eye with an expression that very clearly said _oh please keep moving_.

Tadashi stared, dumbstruck; some of the jewelry slipped and slid off of Louie as he watched. "Louie _what_—"

_That_ triggered it—Louie bounced away further into the store, scattering jewelry everywhere and chattering—Tadashi slapped his hands on the window. "Louie _NO! H_ow did you even get in there—" spot the door ajar, barrel in. _"Louie get back here—"_

Oh this was just _great_.

* * *

Oh this was just _great._

Tadashi had wandered off in one direction, against her better judgment—'Kase was still looking everywhere, on edge—something was wrong, parts of the city didn't just get _empty_. She didn't care _what_ time it was, there should have been _someone_ out here—

And then she heard a familiar, tentative chirp.

"Hey!" she gasped, waving a wing in Tadashi's direction. "Tadashi—'Dashi—come on, say it again—"

Another chirp, this one with a bit more force, a bit more hope in it—enough for her to hear _'Kase_ buried in it—enough to snap her attention in the direction it came from—bound forward—

"Nox!" she yelped, skidding to a halt in front of an alley—

It wasn't Nox.

_"Huey!?"_ she squawked, spotting the little red-clad bird-boy. "What are you _doing_ here!?"

An answer to _that_ question was going to take a while—Huey was busy babbling, arms wrapped firmly around a _very_ familiar-looking box, wings half-unfolded and twitching as he squawked and cawed and held the box up—'Kase took it, heart sinking; yes, this was the box of gene cleansers that Grump had flown off with.

"Huey," she repeated. "_What. Happened."_

Huey was sobbing now as he tried to explain—she got bits and snatches, _Grump_ and _bad_ and _no-good bad_ and _attack_ and _flee_—something had happened in the woods and everyone was scattered and Huey was terrified because he wanted 'Dashi and the bad-people had found them because 'Dashi _wasn't there_—

"Hey," she said quietly, kneeling, transferring the box to one arm so she could use the other to hug Huey close. "Hey—shh, it's okay, I'm here."

Huey clung to her, curling up against her chest, keening starting to snarl into the sobs—whatever happened had been terrifying to the little bird-boy—had to have been something worse than the bear or the cougar for this reaction.

And _please_, tell her she had misheard him—_please_ tell her she hadn't just heard him say that everyone had scattered after being _attacked_—

Adjust her hold on both Huey and the box, stood, rubbing the bottom of her beak on Huey's head. "Hey, hey, shh, it's okay—we're going to go see 'Dashi now, okay? 'Dashi's right over—"

She looked down the street where Tadashi _had_ been—gone. Oh no….

Worse, Huey had stopped sobbing, was hiccupping now and looking at her with wet eyes. "D-dashi? Okay? Yes?"

"Uh…yeah. Just—give me a minute," she said, jogging down the street as fast as she could—she was certain bird feet could sprint, but if they could, she hadn't discovered just _how_ yet.

"Tadashi!" she hissed, stopping at the first alley and peering down. No—next one—"'Dashi!"

_Crash-tinkle-CRASH!_

She froze, looking down the street—that had sounded close.

"'Dashi?" Huey asked, starting to squirm a little.

"Yeah hold on—Tadashi, _please_ be you," she muttered, carefully pacing down the street towards the noise—

_"'Kase, help!"_

Okay, _definitely_ Tadashi—sprint the rest of the way, skid to a halt in front of the store with all the noise—

"Tadashi, _what_ are you doing in a jewelry store?" she had to ask, spotting the teen in question scrambling around inside.

"Don't ask me _how_ but Louie's in here I need help he keeps slipping by me—_gotcha!_"

Not quite, if Tadashi's muted cursing and Louie's loud squawking was anything to go by—from what she could get, Louie had thoroughly been distracted by the shiny jewelry and was trying to take it all for himself.

"Good Louie, go for the big carats!" 'Kase called.

_"DON'T HELP HIM, HELP ME!"_

"'Dashi!" Huey cheered, pointing, suddenly chirping and chirruping and making generally happy noises, all laced through with absolute relief—soon as he spotted Tadashi, and Huey was convinced that everything was good and right with the world again.

And then she had to tighten her grip, as Huey had spotted some of the jewelry too and immediately started squawking _SHINY-SHINY-SHINY,_ pawing madly trying to get to it.

"Hey, I get it, really," she said, clonking him on the head a little with the bottom of her beak—salty wet smells were increasing—glance around—San Fransokyo's infamous fog rolling in—

And less than two parking spaces away: a police cruiser, police already out and leaning on the doors, eyeing her.

"Uh—heheh, hi," she tried. "Uh, Tadashi? _'Dashi!"_ No dice, he was still trying to catch Louie—"Uh…wonderful weather we're having, isn't it?"

Neither cop looked impressed, and 'Kase was under the impression the only reasons she hadn't been arrested or shot yet was 1) she herself was not doing anything that could be construed as illegal, and 2) they probably couldn't figure out just what she was up to with a full-body feather suit. Ah, if you only knew….

A sharp snapping _thud_ made her look up—Tadashi had chased Louie up to the top of a folded ladder, which had fallen on the windowpane, which was now starting to crack—

'Kase glanced at the cops before taking a couple of steps backwards—just in time for the window to break and the ladder to fall almost precisely where she had been standing. Louie tried to make a break for it—

Tadashi finally caught him by his tail, getting flesh and bone instead of feathers—Louie squawked at the tug on his tail, squawked worse when Tadashi hauled him up, worse when he told Louie that he was _getting the mother of all time-outs—_

_"Tadashi!"_ 'Kase barked.

_"What!?"_ he barked back—caught sight of the officers in his peripheral vision, froze. Yes, _she_ wasn't doing anything questionable (although Huey was trying to get a hold of one of the pieces of jewelry within reach), but Tadashi had just crashed out of a jewelry store, and he and Louie both were coated in the gems and precious metals.

Tadashi, for his part, at least _tried_ to play it off—point a finger of the hand still with a death-grip on Louie's tail. "They went that way, officers."

The two cops exchanged glances.

"I'm calling it in," one decided, ducking into the cruiser.

"I've had weirder Tuesdays," the other sighed.

Okay, she was going to have to hear this one—beak already open when her ear twitched—something deep within twanging _danger-danger-danger-run-flee-GO-NOW_ before she could even fully process the sound—

Huey and Louie heard it too, recognized it, if the way they suddenly froze, silent and wilfed down to nothing, was any indication.

"Yeah dispatch we have a—"

What they had she didn't hear—bodily flinch back as something heavy made the front of the cruiser buckle—mind flash-screaming recognition of the monster that had done so, the same sort they had seen in the drain pipes earlier—

It was definitely serious, considering it had Tadashi swearing floridly in front of the kids.

_"RUN!"_ he managed finally, getting his feet under him and traction going, hugging Louie tight to his chest—

'Kase took off after him, ears flinching flat at the sound of gunshots—like that was going to stop that thing—

"'Dashi!" she screamed. "I need my wings free!" She needed that like she needed air—every fiber of her being was screaming at her to get airborne, safety was only a few wingbeats away _why were you still on the ground!?_

Tadashi glanced behind—she shoved the box forward—scrabbling claws caught it—

"Huey, hang on!" she gasped, freeing up both wings, crouching down, jumping up, powering down hard—hard flaps, hard flaps, not as fast as she needed them to be, not as much air—stupid stupid stupid she ever saw her original again and 'Kase was going to give her more than a busted nose—

More wingbeats—Tadashi was up in the air, fear once again giving him the impetus to get it right quickly—shooting up faster, he still had his full winglength, spinning to see what was going on but she couldn't stop yet everything was still screaming at her to get higher had to get higher had to get away—

And then she was high enough—some sense that told her she was high enough off the ground, like a built-in altimeter—bank, even out, wings still pumping—drat it all, less lift and more weight but she couldn't exactly ask Huey to let go—

"Up here!" Tadashi called—she looked to see him angling up to the ridge of a building, seemingly put there just for pigeons to sit on, or maybe to be fancy—she didn't care, it was high and hopefully safe from some weird whale-looking monster—

Land, sag from the exhaustion that adrenaline and fear left behind…ignore that corner of her mind saying that yes this was a good cliff high above danger yes good yes—that little corner that sounded like the kids and translated for her most times was much too busy chittering about how _high_ equals _safe_ and she'd really rather have it shut up right about now.

"Okay," Tadashi breathed. _"Okay._ You," he said, getting a firm hold on Louie. _"What_ were you even _doing_ in there you guys weren't even supposed to be heading down the river yet."

"Looking for you," 'Kase translated, after about a minute of both Louie and Huey squawking, squeaking, and chittering. Ah, she'd have to say it. "Tadashi…they say the camp was attacked."

Tadashi froze, the feathers she could see plastering against his skin, some part of him registering what she was saying even as the greater part denied it—looked at the box he had automatically put aside in favor of focusing on Louie—_recognized_ said box.

"What—what happened? What do you mean _attacked?_ Is everyone okay?"

It was a lot to ask of a pair of kids, but they did their best—'Kase slowly translated, stomach feeling like someone was twisting iron rebar inside of it.

Tadashi looked like throwing up over the side of the building was a good option right about now.

"We don't know that," she interrupted, before he could open his mouth. "We don't know that us being there would have made a difference—_Grump_ was there, and he rolled a cougar, remember?"

Tadashi nodded, but she could see it—crushed on the inside, probably repeatedly thinking _I failed I failed everyone I should have been there—_

She was certain because that was running through _her_ mind too.

But there was no point—no point in thinking of how this could have gone better, it hadn't and the main focus needed to be on how to _make_ it better.

Louie kept shooting glances at Huey—Huey waved a hand, nodded—Louie looked downcast, whistled _sorry_ before speaking again.

'Kase felt her ears twitch at what he had to say.

"What?" Tadashi asked, noticing her movement—voice cracking with an edge of hope.

"The girls," she said. "Webby, Violet and Lena—they left before it all started, before Grump came back—he says they left to try and find us."

Tadashi looked like he couldn't decide whether or not that was good news—good news because they might not have been captured; bad news because _where were they now?_

Huey collapsed against her, rubbed his face against her shoulder, warbling and murmuring _exhaustion_ from terror and worry—the kids didn't have a buffer between them and that annoying bird-voiced corner of their mind, that part was front and center and Huey was probably convinced that with her and Tadashi here and them up high that he was safe and now was a good time to take a nap.

Louie looked like he wanted to do the same thing, was hesitant, arms crossed and beak chattering—

Tadashi solved the problem by scooping him into his lap and hugging him close.

"Hey—hey it's all right, you found us, you're safe," Tadashi murmured, eyes saying what he left off—_for now._ "It's okay—it's okay."

"Dah-_shiiii_," Louie wailed, muffled from having his face buried in Tadashi's hoodie, whole body shaking—Tadashi squished against the window, shot a glance to make sure no one was looking out, hugged him close, trying to position himself so Louie wasn't exposed. Glance up at 'Kase—

She wished he wouldn't look at her like that—she was more than willing to let him be the de facto leader—if you wanted to get technical, he was older than her. He was the one in charge, the one she trusted to come up with a plan.

But he was also a teen, with barely a concept of adulthood—if he was in his twenties she'd be surprised—everything was crushing and terrifying right now, and he wanted desperately to look at someone else, find someone older who'd tell _him_ that everything would be okay.

Except it was just them, and she was trying very hard to keep the terrified shaking to a minimum.

"We'll think of something," she assured him, not sure how. "You'll come up with something, figure out something with that big brain of yours, get us out of this mess. You're good for that." Could see some of that light in his eyes dimming—"Hey—no, you stay with me—you can figure this out—you've got that little brother who needs you, remember? You can't quit now, we're so close."

Tadashi took a deep breath, shuddering and rattling against the despair frosting his insides—

Exhaled, eyes closed—she could just picture him mentally telling himself to shape up—corners of his mouth twitched; must have thought of something funny.

"Okay," he breathed. "Okay." A little stronger. "Okay." Back to his old self. "Okay, Louie, Huey—do you know for certain if anyone was snatched? How many made it out?"

"Huey's asleep," she told him.

Tadashi sighed, nodded, looked at Louie—Louie blinked up at him, exhausted from an overflow of emotion, gave a sad whistle.

"I know," Tadashi said, massaging Louie's head—the little bird-boy started to relax some. "I know, but the more you can tell us, the better we'll be able to help."

More hesitation on Louie's part—he probably thought he was still in trouble, or that everything bad that had happened was lying in wait for him—rub his face against Tadashi's hoodie—she spotted something sparkling caught in his own little green hoodie. Reach over, pluck it out—

"Here, Louie," she said, handing it to him. "Maybe this makes it better?"

Louie glanced at what she was offering him—perked up, whistling, immediately distracted by the _shiny_—she had to laugh at Tadashi's consternated expression as Louie snatched the bracelet away.

"Seriously?" he demanded.

"Hey, it helps," she told him. "And besides, I can get behind getting excited over shiny stuff."

"You're such a bad influence," Tadashi said, maybe some amusement making its way through the crushing emotions. "Louie—Louie do you know if anyone else made it out?"

Louie gave a few soft whistles, tried to nibble on the bracelet—Tadashi stopped him, repeating what he told Nox numerous times—hug the bracelet close and point away, soft _caark_s punctuating his chirps.

"Dewey and Della," she told Tadashi. "They were going to wait for a little bit, see if anyone else made it out—on that little sandbar we stopped on?"

Tadashi sagged—that still left five kids too small to fly, two teens, and two adults—maybe Grump, even—left them all unaccounted for, with the last sight the kids had gotten of them being them attacked, fire everywhere, and people trying to catch them.

A shiver ripped through her—she edged closer to Tadashi, glancing out in the hopes of seeing something against the fog—the bird-corner and human-corner of her brain were in agreement on wanting to be closer to someone right now. Tadashi shuffled closer too, until their knees were touching and the breeze wasn't so bad.

"If you say this is your fault I'm going to throw you off the ledge," she told him, when he sucked in a breath.

Tadashi looked down at Louie, now asleep against his chest, looked up at her. "You'd endanger a child?"

"You'd throw him to safety first."

"All right, fine, I'll keep my flogging to myself," he said, trying to keep his expression controlled—but she could see the deep, sharp ache, like someone was rubbing salty broken glass into him from the inside out. First Nox, now the rest—they should have—

"What?" he asked, peering at her in concern. "What is it?"

She bit back another coughing laugh. "I just—it's stupid."

"What is?"

Shook her head, lower it. "I was…I was just thinking we should have never come here." Flick a glance at him, saw his expression—had to continue. "I mean, everything leading up to this—sure a lot happened, but we were able to handle it. The bear, the cougar, the broken leg, Violet in the river—we handled it. It's—like, as soon as we laid eyes on this place things fell apart. The weirdness in Muirahara Woods, losing Nox, getting attacked by monsters, and now this—" Curl her fingers tightly around her nares, eyes squinching shut—she was not having a breakdown, she was _not_. "I just—I want to go back to like a week ago. I hate—I hate feeling like this place is a pox."

Silence—moisture was leaking out of her eyes against her will—yet more of an indication that she was nothing like her original. Her original wouldn't _dare_ cry in front of someone.

She felt a hand on her wrist, thumb gently rubbing the back of her hand—move to her shoulder, tug—

She was more than willing to curl up next to him, a wing draped over her back and tugging her close, arm around her, her head against his shoulder—there was something just…_safe_, about having someone else's wing separating you from the rest of the world, something warm and comforting about being half-hidden away like this.

"Is this the part where I give you a hard time if you say _sorry?"_ Tadashi asked, when she opened her beak.

She coughed a laugh at that. "Okay fine, I deserve that one."

"Maybe," Tadashi said, sounding briefly amused before hugging her tightly, chin resting on her head.

"We're going to get through this," he assured her, rubbing her arm. "We're _going_ to get through this—we're going to find Nox, we're going to find the others—if I have to storm Sycorax myself I will. I will make this work, I will do everything in my power and pray for what I can't do—I will drive you insane because I'm going to say it again, _someone has to help."_ Pause. "And in this case, it'll be us and Divine intervention."

She coughed again. "Well, when you put it _that_ way…."

Tadashi hugged her tight again.

"We'll make it," he said, heart beating solidly in his chest, tempered by the panic he no doubt felt. "We can fix this."

Relaxing into him, hugging Huey to her chest, feeling Louie shift a little, murmuring—right now she could believe that.

They would make things right. And maybe it wouldn't be in the solitary way of fighting tooth and nail like her original did—her original that cut her feathers just for the challenge of it.

Maybe it was time to start being _glad_ she was her own self, to be accepting of that.

And maybe it was time to realize she had something _worth_ fighting for.


	41. Breakfasting With Bird-Kids

**Chapter 41, everybody! And I think in my writing up on this I might be getting close to having it entirely written out…might bump it up to posting twice a week once that happens but in the meantime know that we have updates clean into the new year—and to this fic's first anniversary. :D**

**Continuing blanket disclaimer: I still have not finished Season Two. We're flying blind, boys. And again, a good chunk of these chapters were written before I had been able to bring myself to watch "Countdown to Catastrophe"…and in other news, yes I'm still in denial of the end of "Countdown to Catastrophe" don't at me. D:**

**And sad news…_Ducktales_ is going to end with Season 3, no Season 4, please send lots of angry e-mails to Disney Corporate, they have a thing about ending shows at three seasons even when they're doing well. *shakes fist angrily***

**So on the topic of this chapter…Hiro has now done what every dog owner has done at least _once_, don't lie to me. Although in my case, I have to hope it's the black lab that's fooled—the Dalmatian has _never_ fallen for a fake-out, it's eyes on the prize all the way. XD**

**Also…two things: one, the boys made the mistake of getting on the kids' level, and two…they aren't Tadashi or Sue or Beth, all bets are off as far as the bird-kids are concerned, they have plans to find their new limits and they are _committed. _Also probably worth mentioning that if you have parrots you never let them get above you, that's a position of power and you can't keep an eye on them—if one sits on your shoulder, you're showing that you _really_ trust it (and risk a bite to the face, unfortunately).**

**I am not _entirely_ certain if you can make what Heathcliff and Baymax did, but you can fry ice cream so I'm going with _maybe_. It's kind of a hybridization of onigiri and a Berliner (stuffed donut) and is basically the entire balanced breakfast, with fruit in the middle, oatmeal in the place of rice, rolled in pancake batter and then fried. I…actually need to see if I can achieve this….**

**And once again, I looked something up for this fic—mostly because I was almost certain that Baymax would definitely have a medical explanation for a brain freeze. He does. XD Also have the breakfast medical advice from him, although I got that one from Mom first.**

**In other news…I'm almost entirely certain Hiro learned several words he wasn't supposed to in Good Luck Alley, we just don't see or hear it because Disney. And in writing out this chapter…we're talking chapters 34 and 35 that Hiro's referring to—yes, Hiro, it's been weeks. X'D**

**For those who might not know about such a thing—pre-pandemic, mixed learning is basically a combo of online and campus learning. Fun stuff. The bird-kids' POV, meanwhile, was written ahead…and we finally see what happens when Violet has a full belly of high-sugar content.**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Yes—Louie is definitely part Momokase. XD Yes, more banter, and soon more everyone! Hopefully….*dances in confetti***

**Hexyah, thanks for the review! It's definitely based on it, so that's why. XD Yeah, that's a pity—but at least it made you laugh! :D And yes—our little girl's growing up. *sniff***

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

Hiro slowly struggled back awake, aware of the fact that the sun was shining on his face.

Groan, wave his hand around, trying to find the string to his blinds to drop them—five more minutes, _please_—he felt like he was hit by a trolley and then left on the pavement. No, seriously, his bed felt like a rock—

Roll to his back, squint at his ceiling…wait, he used to have a ceiling what happened?

Oh…right…overnighted at Fred's because there was _no way_ he was going back home and trying to explain his appearance to Aunt Cass when he wasn't firing on all cylinders. Which meant that the reason he felt this way came crashing back, and everything that went with it—

A bird face leaned into his line of sight. "Dashi-Hiro?"

Groan, rub his face, feeling the band-aids all over it. "I was hoping I dreamt that part."

"Dashi-Hiro!" Webby chirped brightly, sounding like she was jumping over him. "Dashi-Hiro Dashi-Hiro YES!"

"Dashi-Hiro _no,"_ Hiro muttered, sitting up and taking in his surroundings. Webby was still happily bounding around, Lena was still dozing on the one couch, Honey Lemon and Gogo stretched out on patio chairs, Nox rolling upright next to him and chirping.

"Mornin'," Hiro said without enthusiasm, looking around for the remainder of Big Hero Six—

Fred and Wasabi were on the blankets that had been for the kids, Fred using Wasabi as a pillow, Wasabi flat on his back and the both of them snoring—

And Violet seated on Wasabi's chest, watching his face intently and bobbing up and down as he breathed.

"Uh, no," Hiro said, scrambling to get up _oh why did everything HURT_—oh yeah, nearly dying multiple times last night. "No bad bird-kid we don't sit on Wasabi—"

"'Zabi yes," Webby said, bouncing up and down next to Hiro. "Dashi-Hiro yes _fwee_ yes yes—"

"Dashi-Hiro _no_—I told you, it's just—it's just Hiro," he told her.

"Dashi-Hiro _fwee_ yes _fwee chirp_ yes—"

"I don't know what you're after."

Nox tapped his face, the critically pensive expression he was pulling smacking too much of his original—disappeared into the bushes before returning with the tennis ball, tapping it against Hiro and repeating the noises Webby was making.

Hiro finally took the ball, turning it over in his hands. "You want me to throw this? Is that it?"

The bird-kids were bouncing up and down now, nodding and repeating that noise.

"Okay," Hiro sighed, winding up for a pitch—pause, consider the bird-kids watching him intently—

Followed through, nearly pulling a muscle with the strength of his pitch, bird-kids already off—

And him quickly stuffing the ball in a hoodie pocket.

"Well _that_ should buy me a few minutes," Hiro said smugly—froze when he realized Lena was watching him. "Uh…how much is your silence worth?"

She narrowed her eyes at him—okay _now_ he could see it—shrieked and cawed loud enough for Gogo to start flailing around for her alarm.

It also had Nox and Webby running back, barreling direct for Hiro.

Panic, try to tug the ball out of his pocket to get rid of it—wasn't fast enough. Nox hit first, Webby a split-second after, tennis ball flying as Hiro went sailing back, bird-kids clinging tight, fortunately landing on something soft.

Unfortunately, that something soft was Fred, him squawking _OW!_ as they all went rolling—Wasabi snorted, started awake—froze when he realized Violet was sitting on him. "Uh…."

Hiro tried to struggle out from under the bird-kids, Webby leaving him alone to tackle Fred and roll him, Nox pinning him—he had a moment of panic, of disassociation flinging him away from the here and now to one of his nightmares—

And then Nox screeched, prompting Lena to come bounding over, squawking—

"No wait stop _stop stohahahap stop that tickles!"_ Hiro squawked, squirming and trying to get free and away from the one poking bird-kid who apparently had the special ability to find _every_ ticklish spot he possessed. _"Help!"_

_"Fred is down—FRED IS DOWN!"_ Fred wailed, one arm up dramatically. _"WASABI! AVENGE MEEEEE!"_

"Do I _look_ like I'm in a position to do any avenging?" Wasabi asked, hands gingerly up and between his face and Violet's. "No, no…good bird-kid, nice bird-kid—"

"'Zabi," Violet said, still watching him intently, ear flicking at the sound of the other bird-kids rendering Hiro and Fred useless.

_"Half of Big Hero Six out just like that!"_ Fred gasped, hands clasped over his head to protect it from Webby bounding all over and flopping and rolling on him. _"Dudes we're supposed to be farther along the ten-step program than this!"_

_"Will you all SHUT UP!?"_ Gogo yelled finally, half-pushing herself up to squintily glare in their general direction. "_Who let you idiots into my apartment!?"_

_"Gogo, HELP!"_ Hiro squawked, trying to get free—no, Fred had the right idea, trying to curl up as small as possible at least reduced the number of spots Lena could get to, even if it didn't negate Nox's weight on him.

Gogo seemed to finally register what was going on—launched herself off the patio chair and was hauling Lena back in moments—Lena squirmed free, swinging her legs up to push away before righting herself and scurrying away, circling around and darting back in as soon as Gogo had her arms full of Nox, who pulled the same trick.

"Oh no you don't," Gogo muttered, hugging him tighter to her chest. _"HONEY LEMON! I NEED AN ASSIST HERE!"_

"Zzzzyes Andre I'd love for you to teach me French," Honey Lemon muttered, rubbing at her face a little.

_"HONEY LEMON!"_

"ZzzyaAAAH I'm up I'm up!" Honey Lemon yelped, launching herself upright, hands up. "What'd I miss?"

_"I COULD USE SOME HELP HERE!"_

_"NO!"_ Nox wailed, squirming around, feet grasping and sharp claws flashing—Hiro managed to get about a foot before Lena tackled him and started with the tickling again.

"_Ohgosh no that's bad bad kids!"_ Honey Lemon gasped, running over and pulling Lena off—and dropping her quickly when she did the same trick she had done to Gogo—tried it with Webby instead. "No being mean to the boys!"

Webby made a sort of _shree_ noise, pointing at Fred but not trying to squirm out of her grasp. Fred bounced upright—was knocked flat by Lena.

Hiro took the opportunity to scramble upright, gasping for air as he teetered away—Nox finally stopped squirming, seemed to be angling for innocent now.

"Fwee," he noised, looking up at Gogo.

"Don't even," she said sternly, glaring down at him. "Bad bird-kid, no treat for you."

Lena seemed to realize she was the only one left standing—ceased her poking of Fred to jump on him and screech, wings flapping slightly before flopping down and rolling off of him—and then getting into what looked like an argument with Violet.

"Haah," Fred noised, arm flailing before connecting with a table—hauled himself up, trying to catch his breath. _"HAAAH…_okay…we're going to have…to go over…step one again…hoo boy…."

"What _was_ that?" Honey Lemon asked.

"So," Hiro gasped, leaning heavily on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. "So…it turns out bird-kids…don't like it…when you fake throwing the ball."

"Understandable," Gogo said, looking down at Nox. "Are you going to behave yourself?"

"Yes," Nox said. Gogo dropped him—

The second his feet hit the ground he tackled Hiro again.

"HEY no bad _you just lied to Gogo bad bird-kid_," Hiro protested, trying to squirm out from under Nox again.

"Dashi-Hiro," Nox said, purring and doing his best impression of a sack of potatoes.

"I'm not—you know what forget it I give up," Hiro sighed.

"You—bad bird-kid, no treat for you," Gogo repeated, hauling Nox off of Hiro and ignoring his _no-no-no_s. "And you—get off Wasabi, he's sensitive."

"Very sensitive," Wasabi agreed, still focused on Violet—froze when Lena started poking at his hair. "Oh no someone help—"

"Hey," Hiro called, getting Lena to look up at him. "Leave Wasabi alone—_no that doesn't mean get on me STOPPITTHATTICKLES—"_

Lena cheered before flopping down on Hiro, rolling around before rolling off of him—he barely had time to sit up before Nox tackled him and flattened him again. _"SOMEONE HELP!"_ he begged.

_"HERE!"_ Fred barked, diving for a nearby hutch and yanking out a remote, pointing it at the wall—the bird-kids looked, intrigued by his action—Webby whistling with interest and Lena hissing when a piece of the wall slid up—

Went catapulting to that wall when the opening for _Ducktales_ came on, chirping and batting at the TV with interest.

"Are you okay, Hiro?" Honey Lemon asked, helping him upright.

"Yeah," he wheezed, staggering a little—directed his attention to Fred. "Seriously?"

"It has been _seriously_ on my mind," Fred confessed, shrugging a little. "But hey! Apparently this gives us about twenty-two minutes of peace and quiet!"

"Uh," Wasabi noised, still on the ground—and still with Violet on his chest, watching him carefully. "I still have a problem _I could use an assist here."_

"Gotcha," Fred said, scooping Violet up and carting her over to the television. "Wanna watch cartoon duck versions of yourselves?"

"No," Violet said, craning her neck to look back at Wasabi—was quickly distracted by the TV and the others warbling at it.

"Is having the TV babysit really such a good idea though?" Honey Lemon asked.

"Not sure if you noticed, but five people could not restore order," Gogo said, helping Wasabi up.

"Oh _thank you,"_ Wasabi gusted, sagging a little. "My whole life flashed before my eyes…I have things to organize later."

"_Seriously?"_

_"Hello,"_ Baymax greeted, waddling through the French doors and holding one open for Heathcliff and the cart he was pushing. _"We have been discussing the nutritional needs of: bird-kids."_

"And how'd that go?" Hiro asked.

"Swimmingly, Master Hiro," Heathcliff said, pulling off snooty without being condescending. "Their current breakfast now has only natural sugar, with foods such as oatmeal to keep them full."

"Ah. I don't think the kids will be using spoons, for the record."

"We have already discussed that issue," Heathcliff said, as Fred picked up what looked like a stuffed donut, considered it—bit into it.

"Hmm…hmm…it's like…pancakes, and oatmeal, and fruit…dude, it's like all of breakfast stuffed into a pancake-flavored donut!"

Nox's head whipped around at _pancake—_squawked when he spotted the cart, prompting the others to look—

Fred and Hiro both shrieked and dove for cover as the bird-kids stampeded for the cart—blinked in surprise when they collectively skidded to a halt, Webby flopping down and getting Violet on her, Nox sitting down and having Lena bump into his back.

Why they did this became clear when Hiro spotted Fred's mother, stepping out to stand next to Heathcliff and fixing the bird-kids with a stern look.

"Sit," she ordered, pointing at the short table and low patio chairs next to the wall-mounted TV—the bird-kids scrambled to do so, looked at her once they did. "Stay. Heathcliff will bring your food to you. Remember what I said last night."

"Is there any way for like, non-mothers to do this?" Hiro asked her, dusting himself off and totally baffled by the bird-kids behaving themselves.

"All attempts to mass-produce this power have failed," she told him. "General consensus agrees it's for the best."

"It's always mondo dangerous to try to duplicate superpowers anyway," Fred said, nodding sagely.

Hiro wasn't sure how to respond to that, opted to watch as Heathcliff set the table for the bird-kids—

"No," Violet said, when he tried to distribute the milkshakes, waving a hand at him. "No mine want-want-want—"

"Ah-_hem,"_ Fred's mother noised sternly, causing Violet to subside a little—or at least wait until Heathcliff was done before trying to swap her milk with Webby's milkshake. Lena stopped her quickly with a sharp whistle and headshake.

"Now I expect you to behave yourselves and eat with some decorum," she told them. "Don't make me have to sit out here."

"Can we at _least_ get a recording?" Gogo asked, watching as the kids started nibbling daintily on their breakfast.

"That won't work—we tried," Fred's mother told her. "You kids eat some breakfast too."

"Thanks, Madre," Fred said, hugging her—she patted his face before going back in.

The moment Violet was certain she was gone, she whistled at Webby, who swapped her milkshake with Violet's milk.

"Seriously?" Hiro asked, eyebrow askew—more so when Webby bounced up and tried to drag him over to their table. "No wait no—"

"'Dashi-Hiro yes," she insisted, adding chirps and warbles and other bird vocalizations he couldn't make heads nor tails of. Nox looked up at him, down at his plate, back up at Hiro—offered him one of his breakfast buns.

"Aw gee sorry, but I was going to eat at the big kids' table, and I really don't want to pass on that," Hiro said, pointing at where Heathcliff was setting out plates for the team. Webby looked—

Lena leaped to tackle her with a barked "_NO!_", causing Nox to roll back in startlement, knocking Hiro over—

Violet took this opportunity to steal Lena and Nox's milkshakes, was busily sucking one down when Nox recovered, hissed when he squawked at her—

And then squeaked and slapped a hand to her head, face screwed up in pain.

"Oh yeah no sorry little dudette forgot to warn you about the subtle art of drinking cold things through straws," Fred said, coming over with his own milkshake. "See, that what you're feeling is called a _brain freeze_—push your tongue against the roof of your mouth, it'll pass."

"Pretty sure that doesn't work, Fred," Gogo said.

_"A: brain freeze, is caused by rapidly ingesting cold food,"_ Baymax supplied, a finger up before popping up a diagram on his chest. _"The rapid consumption of cold food constricts the blood vessels around the: trigeminal nerve, which then causes the pain associated with a brain freeze. Massaging the back of the neck can speed recovery from a: brain freeze."_

"Mnnh," Violet noised, rubbing her head—looked up at Fred, waved him down—he leaned closer, curious—

And she swapped out her empty milkshake for his.

"Not cool, my dudette," Fred stated, looking at the empty cup. "Can I at least swap out one of those?"

"No," she said, pausing long enough in her eager bid to apparently drink everything remotely sugary available to shake her head. Considered before handing him a breakfast bun.

"Eh, I'll take it," Fred decided, accepting the bun. "It helps that these are totally tasty."

"Mine," Nox said, pointing at one of the milkshakes.

"No," Violet said—screeched back when he screeched at her.

"Will I be needing to report your behavior to Madame Fredrickson?" Heathcliff asked as he pushed the cart back into the house—he was quickly met with a chorus of _no-no-no-no_s. "Very good. Enjoy your meal."

"So I _really_ feel the need to ask why all my super-surreal moments end up happening at _Fred's_ house," Wasabi said, hands on his hips and a confused look on his face.

"Some things in life are mysteries," Hiro decided, trying to get up—was stopped by Nox hooking his hand in Hiro's hoodie. "Remember what I said about being allowed to eat at the big kids' table?"

"No," Nox said decisively.

"Pretty sure I said something about it."

"Here—we can all eat over here," Honey Lemon said, grabbing her breakfast and coming over to sit in one of the patio chairs. The others followed suit, Baymax handing Hiro his breakfast.

"Thanks, Baymax," Hiro said, accepting it before having to angle it away from a curious Nox. Apologized for speeding through grace and keeping an eye open while doing so, opened both and had to smother the small thrill of panic at seeing that particular shade of blue eyes watching him intently.

"My breakfast," Hiro told him. "And tell Violet to leave my milkshake alone."

"No," Violet said, working on a third one. And then planting a hand between the remaining milkshakes and Lena's questing hand. "No." Shove her plate at Lena instead.

"Little dude and dudettes, chill a bit and watch the TV instead," Fred suggested, turning up the volume a little. Webby chirped—started squawking animatedly when the show mentioned Huey, Dewey and Louie.

"I feel like that backfired," Hiro said, moving a hand to block Nox's questing for his breakfast. "No. Eat your own." And then trying to shove the tail he flipped onto Hiro's legs back off. "Do you mind?"

"No," Nox said, flipping his tail back where he had it.

"Help."

"Guard my breakfast," Gogo said, shoving it at Wasabi before getting up.

"Okay, where are you—_oh no help,"_ Wasabi squeaked, flinching away from Lena's attention—"_HEY!"_

"Mine," Violet said, taking Wasabi's milkshake back to her seat.

"Okay not that I want it back but that was _mine_ and _no wait you have your own breakfast leave mine alone—"_

"Here," Gogo said, planting a chair behind Hiro. "And you," she said to Webby. "Don't make me get Fred's mom back out here."

Webby quickly sat back down, looked at her empty plate and whistled bereftly.

"Aw—here dudette, have my breakfast," Fred said, putting his plate on the table. "I can get something else—_OOF the flying hug-tackle we talked about this."_

Webby purred before letting go and focusing her attention on the breakfast formerly known as Fred's. Lena watched a moment, turned her attention to Honey Lemon.

"Honey Lemon, _no,"_ Gogo ordered. "You're being emotionally manipulated—_Honey Lemon."_

"But she's so cute," Honey Lemon protested over Lena's purring.

"Sure. The _Mayoi_ were cute too, and we saw how _that_ went."

"Except I'm pretty sure these guys aren't going to, you know, mutate and grow to kaiju proportions," Fred offered. "That we know of. My dudette, I don't have any more."

Webby whistled, immediately moved on to Wasabi.

"Uh, no," Wasabi said, shrinking back in his seat and gesturing to the TV. "Watch the TV, watch the TV _please no not on my lap I HAVE TO WORK UP TO THESE THINGS OKAY?"_

"Don't give this to anyone," Gogo said, handing her breakfast to Honey Lemon before helping peel Webby off of Wasabi.

"You know what? Let's not do this again," Hiro decided, having finally managed to combine not losing his breakfast with getting Nox's tail off his legs and getting into the seat Gogo had dragged over. And then ignoring Nox's disgruntled look—"No wait _my_ chair chairs are for _one person at a time okay?"_

"That might be a good idea," Honey Lemon agreed—looked at Lena looking at her. "No, this is Gogo's."

Lena huffed, chirped at Violet walking away with another milkshake—

"Hey wait a minute!" Honey Lemon yelped, looking at where her drink _had_ been. "That was _mine!"_

_"Hey!"_ Gogo barked, quickly lifting her plate from Honey Lemon's grasp and away from Lena—not fast enough to keep from losing one of the breakfast buns. "Do you _mind?"_

"Sorry."

"Not you _her."_

"Fwee," Lena noised, already with half of the breakfast bun gone.

"Okay no wait so…my dudette come on I mean look," Fred said, sitting crosslegged at the table. "See? Down here's where it's at you can play with Wasabi after he finishes his breakfast."

"No you can't," Wasabi said, right before he leaned too far and ended up flipping onto the floor—his breakfast quickly disappeared. "Okay I second Hiro's motion this is _not_ working."

"Glad we're in agreement _BAYMAX!"_ Hiro yelped, lifting his plate away—finally fell to temptation and flung a breakfast bun, inducing Nox to chase after it—

And in those few seconds of being unattended, _his_ milkshake became _Violet's_ milkshake. _"HEY!"_

"Mine," Violet said, already busily sucking it down.

"My dudette we really need to cover the concept of _sharing,"_ Fred said, helping Wasabi up.

"No."

"Pretty sure we do. Actually pretty sure we need to go over the whole ten-step program again these are important points."

"Is _personal space_ on the list?" Hiro asked, once again having to defend against Nox climbing back in the chair—which ended with him losing the rest of his breakfast to Lena. "_Hey that's_—forget it," he sighed, sagging and accepting the inevitable.

"'Dashi-Hiro," Nox purred, hugging him.

"Don't _'Dashi-Hiro_ me _I have no breakfast because of you."_

"Would it kill you all to woman up and keep your breakfast?" Gogo asked, sipping her milkshake.

"Now wait a minute!" Wasabi yelped, pointing at her after dancing away from Webby. "I lost _my_ milkshake holding _your_ breakfast!"

"And I pulled a bird-kid off you, so I think we're even."

_"We are not even I haven't had breakfast okay?"_

_"Breakfast: is the most important meal of the day, as it encourages a healthy metabolism,"_ Baymax offered. _"Skipping breakfast can result in fatigue and heart problems."_

"See?" Hiro asked, trying to squirm free. "You're negatively impacting my health."

"Nuh," Nox noised, sounding like he was trying to fall asleep. Which made him the best-behaved bird-kid at this point, considering the other three were now focused on Gogo.

"Ugh, _fine!"_ she barked finally, plonking her breakfast on the short table. "I'll pick something up on the way to school."

Dead silence for several beats.

Hiro was pretty sure that the bird-kids learned several words that they shouldn't have and that he specifically would have to be explaining where _he_ heard his contribution (Good Luck Alley), but that was a preferable problem to having to explain to Professor Granville just _why_ they were late—he, at least, was certain he wouldn't be able to fluff by with no concrete excuse two days in a row.

Of course, he was also the one who needed the most help escaping considering he had a bird-kid of equal size clinging onto him and squawking _no-no-no_ when he realized Hiro's intent—had to yell for Baymax to intercept, Fred yelled for Mini-Max's assist, managed to finally escape through the garage since it would hold up better than the French doors, managed to slam the door and lock it right as the first bird-kid slammed against it, scratching and whining.

"We're sorry!" Honey Lemon called through the door Fred was currently sagging against. "We have school!"

"Well, _we_ do," Gogo said, looking pointedly at Fred.

"Excuse you, _I_ go to SFU," Fred countered, pointing at her.

"Campus?"

Fred started to answer—stopped, conceded her point. "Mixed, but I'll let you have the win. Come on, I'll get the door for you guys."

The door leading into the house opened before they got even with the limo. "Fredrick, maybe your friends would like to freshen up first."

"Um, thanks, Mrs. Fredrickson," Hiro started. "But we're kind of late—"

So Hiro wasn't entirely certain that Mrs. Fredrickson _didn't_ have some sort of mom-related superpower, considering she stopped him just as solidly with one hand raised as she did with the bird-kids. "Heathcliff can take you when you're done, you'll cause less of a stir showing up in a limo five minutes late than you will on time and looking like you wrestled a bear."

Considering Honey Lemon just gingerly picked a leaf out of Hiro's hair…."Augh okay fine."

And considering he scared himself upon spotting his reflection in the mirror, Mrs. Fredrickson's worries were justified. Strip to jump in the shower, deciding to shelve the question of just _why_ those clothes looked like they'd be a perfect fit—

Pause at something flittering down, knocked loose by him taking his shirt off. Dark, faint hints of color in the light…one of Nox's feathers.

The thinnest of ideas slipped into his mind just then—pick the feather up, put it on the new clothes, speed through returning his appearance to _civilized human being_, stuff the feather into the pocket of the SFIT jacket he tugged on over the rest of the clothes before running out the door.

Heathcliff intercepted the bundle of dirty laundry before Hiro could get too far. "You may retrieve these after school, Master Hiro," he said. "The others are waiting in the car out front."

"Uh, yeah—th-thanks, Heathcliff!" Hiro said, bolting for the front doors and running down the steps, barely noting his moped locked into a slot near the garage (he had totally blanked on it…yesterday morning? It felt like weeks ago). Jump through the door Fred slid open—

His friends already inside a freshly-cleaned limo was secondary notice to a breakfast spread laid out for them inside—_without_ bird-kids trying to steal it.

"Aw man, _excellent,"_ Hiro said, grinning.

* * *

The moment the others were gone, _panic_ started to set in.

Violet was quick to agree with Webby, splitting up flock-flight was _no-no-no bad-bad-no good-bad_ splitting up was what happened to 'Dashi and Nox and 'Kase and Grump and was what happened to Violet and Webby and Lena splitting up was BAD _WHY WERE THEY LEAVING US!?_

Nox wailed _don't know_, they kept doing this and if that really WAS 'Dashi's-Hiro then that was BAD because he was pretty sure that 'Dashi was looking for 'Dashi's-Hiro and they should all stick together because then 'Dashi would find ALL of them—

Lena whistled hard, pointed out that they weren't _sure_ this was 'Dashi's-Hiro it could be they were overreacting and shedding feathers over nothing and this was fake-nest but it was safe-nest so they should _stay_ there was nothing like the horrible-shrieking-thing or the big BOOMs that the bad-forest had and they could tell where _north_ was and there was food they should wait here 'Dashi was looking for them 'Dashi would _find_ them they should stay right here and be safe.

Violet had to point out that they didn't _know_ if the others were safe, maybe they should be looking—Nox pointed out that there were bad-things out there and that's why he was separated from 'Dashi with _broken_-wing and it took ages and ages and _ages_ before they were all argued out on the how and why and wherefore and need-to want-to and AUGH.

They broke away, hunched down, considering—Violet pulled over one of the _milkshake_ from breakfast which had her convinced that Fwah-nest was good-nest (she didn't care, she agreed with Nox _Fwah_ was better-name), sucked on it while she thought. If this was 'Dashi's-Hiro, then where were _feathers_ where was wings and tail?

She whistled this question at Nox—surely he had thought of this.

Nox squawked and warbled and chattered how his last night with 'Dashi had gone, how 'Dashi had found bad-bad-no good _poison_ that he said took wings and feathers and tail and how Nox thought that 'Dashi's-Hiro had been given some and _that's_ why he didn't look like them because he SHOULD because _I ever tell you you remind me of my little brother Hiro?_ That the reason 'Dashi had gone after the bad-no good-_poison_ was to make it so that 'Dashi's-Hiro was fixed and nobody else had to worry about wings being stolen—

Violet shivered, ran over to Lena, squashed herself under the open wing ready and expecting, shivered again to loose _tension_ as the wing tightened around her—that was terrible—losing wings losing tail losing feathers? Looking flat-faced and bald all over, back paws stuck in weird things and no claws just useless nubs? It was all AWFUL.

Nox added he thought the no-good-bad poison also stole understanding, and that was why 'Dashi's-Hiro didn't know what they were saying—Violet put a paw over an ear and closed her eyes, begging him to stop she didn't want bad-dreams.

Nox trembled at that, enough that Lena lifted her other wing to let him dodge under and squish against her side—Webby wrung her front paws, beak grinding, before dashing to Lena's arms with a _meek_, hugging her tight and warbling that she hated that idea that was bad-bad-no good-_bad_ and maybe that's why 'Dashi's-Hiro kept leaving because he knew _fly_ and without wings it was painful thinking about it?

That could be it—Nox agreed that could definitely be it it had been ages and ages since his wing was broken and he missed flying he missed flying like he missed 'Dashi it was awful—

Violet sucked on the milkshake again, thinking—Lena chirped _share?_

"No," she said, hugging the milkshake to her—she had never been this full-happy-full and Lena had a point there this fake-nest was safe-nest and she had never felt so _good_ everything in her body was telling her liquid-sweet-_food_ was good was BEST and for once she felt GOOD she didn't feel _bleh_ or _blah_ or _tired_ she felt like she could fly on her own for once and outrun a hundred howling-screaming-things she felt like she could roll _cougar_ like Grump did—

Wait.

Violet chirped _idea-listen-idea_—outline a _plan_ of two being _distract_ while other two went and found 'Dashi's-Hiro and brought him back—it was safe here so 'Dashi's-Hiro should really be here it wasn't that hard a concept—

Lena pointed out that that would be _splitting up,_ Nox sighed and muttered that he'd be one of the _stay_ and _distract _because he couldn't fly—

Webby chirped _yes-challenge-yes_.

Violet warbled _yes-me too-yes_, wiggled out from under Lena's wing, took one last big drink of milkshake before handing it to Lena and going _fine-okay-share_—

Lena looked worried, Nox peeking out from under her wing, but Webby was stretching her wings Webby was looking ready they were going to go find 'Dashi's-Hiro and bring him back and Violet was feeling so good-okay-good that she was certain she'd find _everybody_ and bring them back—

Nox chirped, tossed his head, leading them into fake-woods and pointing up at a tree that grew close to _wall_, saying to climb out that way and then fly—Lena warbling _worry_ and _Violet no Violet stay I go-me you-stay—_

Violet squawked, insisted _yes-I go-yes_—hugged Nox and Lena after Webby did, scurried up the tree after Webby, barking and shrieking _challenge_ and _yes-yes I can do this YES—_

Webby was standing on top of _wall_, broad and flat but not like _cliff_ it was only a few paces wide not even a good bound—flapped her wings, whistled that it would be good jump to start a glide it'd have them high enough to start flapping without having to power straight up—

Violet held up a paw, not wanting suggestions that she take it easy—tail thrashing, energy thrumming through her, for once not feeling _bleh-blah-tired_—

She was not being carried today—today she was _flying._

Stretch her wings, stretch as far as she could—Webby whistled _question,_ to which Violet barked _CAN_-_FLY-CAN—_

Webby started warbling about how to fly, up-down-flap—Violet let the information wash over her, digging down deep into herself and what her body told her was _flying_—claws gripped the ground, scraping weirdly _wall_ was weird—

Knees bend, wingtips up—

Shot into the air—

Her wings were going _THRUM_ and _buzz_ and fast and this wasn't the weird sluggish flaps she had tried before this was _good_ this was _right_ she was _FLYING—_

Webby shrieked in _surprise_ and _friend-triumph_, launched into the air after her—Violet tried several long lazy loops and turns—no, no lazy—she was built for _speed_ she wasn't built to be _bleh-blah-tired_ all the time or carried or terrified or frustrated because she couldn't keep up—

She could feel it, feel it through the buzzing in her bones—she was _fast_.

Zip up and down the broad trails and paths, dodging neatly around the huge metal things, mouth open, tasting the air, deep breaths to scent where 'Dashi's-Hiro had gone—caught a scent—zipped to Webby, winging behind her, whistled and pointed _follow me!_

More loops and zipping at every crossroads, sniffing and scenting and letting Webby catch up—for once _she_ was the fast one, _she _was the one having to slow down for someone else, and she couldn't help the excited shrieks and screams of triumph she was the fast one she didn't have slow-bleh-blah-_tired_ anymore—

Webby whistled _excited-you-yes-good_, question of _where 'Dashi-Hiro where?_ Sniff—fly—

The metal monsters were _fast_ but she was faster, able to catch the scent, to direct and zip and fly, Webby staying up high as she zipped around low for the scent and startled all the strange no-feathers a whole place full of no-feathers—keep pace with Webby for a bit, ponder if there was a place of all feathered-like-them if there was a place full of no-feathers and then _where_—follow scent again—

Eventually it led to a place that felt like Fwah-nest but not quite—lots of green, trees and bushes and field, nests surrounding it, open places for landing—they touched down on a large flat piece of hard-ground that had no give and made their claws scratch weirdly, sniff around for 'Dashi's-Hiro's scent, ignoring the looks they were getting from the no-feathers the no-feathers were _confused_ but not _attack-grr-rarr_ so she wasn't going to worry about it just yet—

Run up an incline that was weird and made of the same no-give material, following a scent and chirping and whistling—run smack into something clear and flat.

Webby put her paws against it, followed it first one way and then the other, whistling _confusion_ and _what-what-what-why-why-why_—Violet bounced against it, chattered _aggravation_, backed up and looked at the nest where the 'Dashi's-Hiro scent led—

Whistled at Webby and pointed at a cave opening in the cliff-like face of it.

Webby cheered, patted her, flapped up hard—squawked when Violet was still able to make it to the cave opening before her. Violet cheered _win_, ducked into the cave.

Inside the cave was strange—there were lots of things to look at and play with and perhaps they ought to but maybe they should find 'Dashi's-Hiro first—tempting—that looked _shiny_ and _that_ looked interesting and her claws were itching she wanted to grab things and test them she wanted to _scratch_ at the ground the ground was catching her claws and had some give but only in one spot the rest was _tk-tk-tk_ and maybe the one spot was like _moss_—

Webby tested the spot, went _scratch-scratch-scratch,_ reported that yes, it was good to scratch here, all the things here were tempting but they had to find 'Dashi's-Hiro first so if 'Dashi found them he'd know to go back to the Fwah-nest they needed to be all together—

Sniff around the cave—found a spot by the far wall, opposite the cave opening, where air wafted through a space near the ground—sniff at it, sniff at the odd spot on the wall—paw at it, paw at a glowy thing next to the spot—

Jump back in surprise and with SQUAWK when the odd spot sucked into the wall, revealing another cave.

Webby whistled _interest_, went to the opening and stuck her head through, warbled to Violet that this was _new_ this was different—

Violet looked—reported no, this was _familiar_.

She hated to remember the bad-place as much as the rest of them, but something about this place reminded her of the bad-place, something about the layout—she couldn't reconcile the two images, one was _bad-bad-no good-bad_ and the other was _new_ and this one didn't smell like the other and she wasn't sure and this was confusing and she _didn't like it._

Webby suddenly gasped _thought_—shared a rapidly spiraling theory that built off of Nox's, that 'Dashi's-Hiro was given the bad-no good _poison_ and he had to come _here_ to get more doses—maybe because if he didn't he'd go back to normal! And he didn't _know_ that this was bad-bad-no good-_bad_ because he had been taught that it was good, like how they had been taught to expect certain things—

Violet clamped Webby's beak shut—she didn't want to remember any more of the bad-place than she had to, didn't want to remember the _things she_ had done to them—the feather plucking, the poking, the prodding, the pain—she wanted to remember nothing of that place, wanted to pretend that her life had started the second one of the olders grabbed her and jumped out of the window to freedom.

She didn't get to do that so long as they were _here_.

Hiss at Webby to help find, desire to explore everything about this place gone now, sniff at the air, gingerly pad down the hall, close to the wall, toes curled up so their claws didn't go _tk-tk-tk_ on the floor.

They had 'Dashi's-Hiro to find.


	42. Morning Plans

**Chapter 42, everybody! Sorry for the delay in this chapter—December has been very busy with decorating. _We will be seen from space this year. _\\.o./**

**I think in my writing up on this I might be getting close to having it entirely written out…might bump it up to posting twice a week once that happens but in the meantime know that we have updates clean into the new year—and to this fic's first anniversary. :D**

**Continuing blanket disclaimer: I still have not finished Season Two. We're flying blind, boys. And again, a good chunk of these chapters were written before I had been able to bring myself to watch "Countdown to Catastrophe"…and in other news, yes I'm still in denial of the end of "Countdown to Catastrophe" don't at me. D:**

**So in this chapter…honestly I understand people with Karmi, I know I didn't really care for her (although to start with, it was from the fear of a one-dimensional _I must be mean to Hiro for no reason_ character). And then I started writing for her in my fics, and…honestly, she was me in my first college: younger than the average attendee, antisocial, preferred drawing and writing to interacting with others, warded off relationships like the plague. So actually yeah, I do like Karmi and am more than happy to give her a fair shake in my fics.**

**Also, was sus of the term "Mayoi" after finding out that "Sycorax" is the name of a witch in _The Tempest_ (which Professor Knox quoted)—"Mayoi" is not only a species of plant, but they also mean _doubt, hesitation, _and _bewilderment_ in Japanese and also contain the kanji for _lost_ in the name. Very sneaky.**

**Also, Hiro and Karmi are quoting _Treasure Planet_ and the Blue Sky movie _Robots_, while Fred quotes _The Road to El Dorado._ Fun movies. :D And, thanks to dah884 on AO3 bringing up Globby…guess which two dudes show up this chapter. :D Real excited about these two Felony Carl is my favorite after Obake. :D And before that is another part that got posted earlier on Tumblr…and quotes from Season 3, shh. Globby's singing his own theme song and quoting _Robots_ and _Amphibia_, by the way.**

**And when I wrote that one line I was being facetious I wasn't expecting the mayor of San Francisco to _actually_ destroy the city.**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Ah thank you! And yes—Violet, like all hummingbirds, can fly when hopped up on sugar. :D Yeah that occurred to me too because that'd be a _little_ heavy but we can argue they were little milkshakes. XD Me too on all counts. Thank you, I shall do my best! *salutes***

**Hexyah, thanks for the review, and congrats on being review #77! Oh yes let us bird-nerd. Starting off, not technically—the olders refer to themselves as a group, the bird-kids refer to them as _flock-flight_, and She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named refers to them as escaped experiments. I would think if we want to get scientific we could call them _homo avem_, which would be Latin for _bird-person_, although some San Fransokyans might consider them _tengu_. For the biological points: bird-people are oviparous, usually raising one young at a time. Bones would be closer to avian bones since those are built for flight and are therefore lighter than human bones. Lungs work like bird lungs, rest of the internal organs would be a mix since bird bodies are built for flight and are therefore very streamlined compared to human bodies (one reason why birds lay eggs is so they don't carry around that extra weight during gestation). As for the integumentary system, which I had to look up—I'm going to say more along the lines of birds with the growing of feathers, and that like birds bird-people do not sweat (since it would end up trapped under the feathers). Instead they cool off like birds do, with wings and feathers lifting and panting and such. They _do_ still produce the oils like human skin does, since oil production is important to preening (and is possibly spread during the bird-kids' grooming). Instincts are stronger with the bird-kids since they don't already have a human frame of reference to go off of, so bird-kid is 70/30 bird/human and the olders is reverse. And sorry for the long reply but thank you for giving me a chance to nerd about all this I have been LOVING the whole bird-people thing. :D And yes—she's not married to Stan Lee for nothing. :D Good question….**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

Yes, their arrival at SFIT in a limo several minutes late caused a stir, as did Hiro stumbling into class late, but Professor Granville seemed to accept him saying that they had come from Fred's and ended up stuck in traffic—now here was hoping he could fluff through _one_ class without his books, all of which were still in his lab.

"Totally pushing it," Karmi sang under her breath, focused on her notes.

Hiro scowled at her, swallowed his response—he had other things to worry about right now, and he didn't need to antagonize her or let her know she had antagonized him.

Not when he was planning on using her.

He wasn't able to squeeze that in until about halfway through his first study hour, had to work up to going to her lab and positing this—mostly because _UGH dealing with Karmi was trying._

Her expression when he knocked on the doorjamb of her lab said the feeling was entirely mutual.

"Uh…so," he started. "You and I both know this wouldn't be a thing unless it was dire—"

"If it's another _stupid_ accusation against Sycorax, you can stop right there," she said flatly, going back to her microscope. "Because _you and I both know_ you're just jealous because _I_ got the awesome internship and _you_ got stuck with some lame one at Krei Tech."

"Okay firstly _my_ internship is _not lame_—"

"Sure. What was the cow suit for again?"

_UGH_ give him strength. "Nggh—forget that, okay? I just want something checked."

"Mmm, sorry—there's no cure for being a dweeb."

Groan, finally succumbing to temptation and stalking back and forth outside her lab with fists balled. Remind him why he was doing this again? Oh, right, because he was trying to kill two birds with one stone, forgive the metaphor.

"I _just_ want something checked so I can win a bet," he said finally, coming back to the lab door.

"And I'd help you because?" she asked.

Good question. "I'd give you halfsies?"

"Of what, a bag of gummi bears?"

Groan, close his eyes and count to ten. "I'd owe you a favor?"

That _did_ cause Karmi to pause and consider. "Hmm, that _is_ tempting…what is it?"

Might as well jump on this, he'd probably not get a better chance—finally go in her lab, pull out the feather as he approached her.

"Can you scan this and tell me what kind of bird it came from?" he asked. "You've got the equipment for it…."

Her expression suggested he should have probably had a more solid excuse. "Seriously? _That's_ what you want to owe me a favor for?"

"Hey, you were okay with examining the Mayoi."

"And look what happened _there_—oh let me guess, this thing is your latest attempt to tie Dr. Amara into your crazy monster conspiracy."

Hiro had to swallow his first several responses, finally shrugged. "Fine—I mean scanning it and proving me wrong would be a _great_ way to rub it into my face, but—"

"Ugh, _give me that,"_ she hissed, snatching it from him. "I'll scan it and get back to you."

"Thanks Karmi, you're…." Tried, really couldn't bring himself to finish it like he usually did. "…decent."

"Whatever," she muttered, writing something down in her notes before going back to her microscope. Seemed to register that Hiro was still standing there after a few moments, waved him off. "Go away."

"Gladly," he muttered under his breath, heading for the door. "Hey hold it—_when_ are you getting back to me? Because I kind of need it today—"

"Two things," she said, holding two fingers up and not looking up from writing in her notes. "One, I have a life, and two, every time you ask me this is going to the _bottom_ of my to-do list."

"So…before lunch?"

"If I say yes, will you leave me alone until then?"

"If I say yes and you have it done then, I'll leave you alone for the rest of the day."

"Now that actually _is_ a compelling reason—fine, hour before lunch, now _get out of my lab!"_

"I'm not _in_ your lab!" he shot from the hall—couldn't resist sticking a toe in. "I am now—"

Fresh on his list of things to do: figure out how Karmi rigged up her door to close by remote control. In the meantime…homework, he supposed. Lots and lots of homework.

Now here was hoping it was all sufficiently distracting.

* * *

Tadashi had a couple of shocks upon waking up from a seriously spotty sleep. Firstly, being on a ledge in San Fransokyo, lights flicking on inside the window suggesting he was about to have some encounters he couldn't just _yo wassup_ out of.

Secondly, having two bird-kids with him and 'Kase—

Crushing internal pain when he recalled just _why_ they had two bird-kids: the others had been attacked, maybe captured, maybe dead.

And it was _his_ fault.

'Kase would argue the point, but it was—he should have insisted Nox go back with the others, that he stay; he would have been able to get in and out with 'Kase fast enough that way, would have been back with the others by now…if he had just—been _better_—

_You graduate high school when you're thirteen and this is what you want to do with your life!?_

Sigh—probably not, experience told him that kids had a habit of doing their best to circumnavigate any attempts to keep them out of trouble; apparently him telling Nox he reminded him of Hiro wasn't just nostalgia.

_Tadashi, NO!_

_'DASHI!_

…No…apparently it was a habit of going half-cocked into a thin plan and hurting people he cared for that reinforced that similarity. Of convincing little kids that he helped take care of that he'd always be there, and then failing utterly.

He was a terrible brother.

"I can tell you're awake and beating yourself up—stop it," 'Kase muttered, still mostly leaning against him, Huey curled up against her.

"Sorry—_ahahahoww!"_ he wheezed, trying to twist away from her pinching him and waking up Louie in the process. "Sorry Lou—_I'm apologizing to LOUIE stop pinching me."_

"Make me," 'Kase said, sitting up and blinking blearily—she looked like she had gotten about as much sleep as he had, which was to say _none at all_. He didn't know about _her,_ but _he_ had been twitching awake at every little sound last night.

Unfortunately, their actions woke up Louie and Huey, and past experience with Nox suggested they would be having to work overtime to keep them from running off—

Huey immediately opened his beak wide, begging for food.

"Sorry, Huey," Tadashi told him, catching 'Kase's wrist before she could complete the lunge—wince when her solution was to reach down and pinch his arm. "Ow. We'll work on breakfast, okay? Just hang on a bit."

Huey burbled in disappointment, sagging against 'Kase, Louie looking dejected as well—brightening before pulling out the bracelet and rubbing it against his beak, purring.

"Also on the list of things we need to do: returning that," Tadashi said, grimacing.

"No," Louie noised, nibbling on the bracelet.

"As happy as I am that you know a word, you need to get that out of your mouth it's not food."

"NO!" Louie barked when Tadashi tried to take it away from him fully—pulled it back before stuffing it in his pocket.

"Okay fine! We'll come back to that!"

"The answer is still going to be _no,"_ 'Kase told him, eyeing the windows worriedly.

Tadashi could guess why. "Come on, we need to get out of here—maybe we'll be lucky and find a food cart that doesn't ask a lot of questions."

"Or that accepts either stolen bracelets or random rocks as payment."

"No," Louie said, hissing with a hand on his pocket protectively. And then hissing when Tadashi picked up the box of gene cleansers.

"Sorry Louie—_will you STOP?"_ Tadashi demanded of 'Kase.

"_Something's_ gotta break you of that habit," she countered, causing him to huff before jumping off the ledge and angling away.

As it turned out, he really had very little to worry about the bird-kids this time: Louie and Huey were still shaken up and worried, were clinging tightly to them as they flew away from the building and angled over back alleys.

Unfortunately, Huey's extra weight coupled with her clipped wings meant 'Kase had to land earlier—Tadashi was on edge as they dropped into a back alley.

"Think Sashi's dumpster chicken is back here?" he asked her, eyeing the nearest dumpster.

"I, me, personally, am not going in that," 'Kase said, waving a finger at the trash and the thick layer of flies it had. "I'd rather raid a restaurant and hope for the best—wait where's Grammercy's restaurant from here if I'm going to make a scene I'm going to make a _scene."_

"Remember that time I questioned if you were being a bad influence on the bird-kids?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure I'd remember that."

"Maybe it was something I wanted to say and that whale-monster last night got in the way."

Silence, neither one of them fully able to resist glancing around in worry. A monster in the sewers was one thing—one that attacked cops right in the open was quite another.

"Okay, let's just—forget it, we'll think of something else," Tadashi said, waving one hand and trying to wrangle a squirming Louie with the other. "Just—_Louie!"_

Louie chirped but otherwise ignored him, bounding for the end of the alley—Tadashi ran after him, spotted what had attracted his attention—managed to catch him before he could do any damage to the motorcycle parked at the end of the alley.

"No no _no, Louie,_ we've got enough problems without dealing with an angry biker guy—" Tadashi started, lifting Louie up and hauling him away from the bike—pretty sure the owner would be mad at any damage and that he'd be big enough to break Tadashi in half, even with the bike being solid glittery pink. Start to scramble back when he heard someone—

"You and me, me and you, doin' what we gotta do—_AWOHYINYIIEGH! _Hi there."

"Aaah," Tadashi noised, which was the usual way to wind down from screaming like a little girl. "Uh, hi?"

"Yo what's up?" 'Kase asked—shrugged when Tadashi looked at her. "What? It worked for _you._"

"Oh you know, can't complain," the guy said, gesturing a little and not seeming very bothered by having this conversation with bird-people.

Of course, Tadashi figured that was because the guy had his own problems. "Uh, are you okay?"

"Oh yeah I'm actually having a really great day—nice weather, big plans…I mean the big plans involve fast food and a movie, but it's the little things, right?"

"Uh…right," Tadashi noised, looking him up and down. "But…you know, are you _sure?_ Because you look like you lost a fight with a Jell-O factory."

The guy looked down at himself, poked his chest—like he just now noticed he was coated head to toe in a pink gelatinous substance. "Oh yeah no I'm supposed to look like this—tourists, right? Allow me to introduce myself: _Globby! Defender of San Fransokyo!_ Trademarked."

Tadashi was now fully at a loss. "How long was I out again?"

"So I'm guessing having this conversation with bird-people doesn't faze you at all," 'Kase offered, waffling a hand.

"Honestly I don't think I'm in a position to question other people's life choices," 'Globby' said, dropping the heroic pose.

"No kidding—I think I remember you actually. Weren't you a purse thief? A _lousy_ purse thief?"

_"H__ey,_ harsh—but on point," Globby admitted. "And one of the reasons I changed professions. Lousy work conditions being one of them."

"Them being how you look like you lost a fight with the mood slime from _Ghostbusters?"_ Tadashi asked, still trying to get his mind to click properly on that point.

"Eh no separate incident—more like _wanting to destroy the whole city._ I mean, _come ON!_ That's kind of _excessive,_ don't you think? Especially wanting to blow the city up that's—that's not right, right?"

"Yeah sure," Tadashi agreed, head too light. "The guy could have just run for mayor."

"True—hey are you okay?"

"Sure fine—just—kinda have to sit down for a bit."

"He's been having a day," 'Kase offered.

"Oog," Globby noised in sympathy. "Hey, what about chocolate? Chocolate makes everyone feel better, right?"

"Unless they're allergic."

"Uhh, no thanks," Tadashi said, waving the chocolate off—and then putting a hand on Louie's head when he started sniffing at it. "Kinda make it a point not to eat anything that used to be a pink compound of unknown composition."

"Okay these are fair points," Globby offered, eating the chocolate—had a pensive moment before pointing at 'Kase. "You know, you seem familiar."

"I guest-starred on _Sesame Street,"_ 'Kase said flatly, eliciting a snort from Tadashi.

"No I don't think that's it."

"Order's up," the big biker dude Tadashi had been worrying about said as he walked into view, a couple of flats of Noodle Burger meals in his hands—took note of everything going on around his bike. "Friends of yours?"

"Oh sure," Globby said. "This is…um…."

'Kase sighed and took pity on him when it became clear the biker dude was friendly. Ish. "'Kase, Huey, Louie, Tadashi," she said, pointing to each of them in turn. Considered Globby for a moment. "And Globby."

"We already know each other we're roommates—Felony Carl, great guy, known him since he was Misdemeanor Carl."

Tadashi was really worried his face was going to default to blank dumbfounded-ness for the rest of his life. "I'm sorry, what? _Felony_ Carl?"

"It was my mom's idea," Felony Carl said, shrugging.

"And I see that you too do not question chatting up bird-people in alleys," 'Kase observed. "Tadashi I'm disappointed we could have been walking down the street all this time."

"I don't really make it a point to question people's life choices," Felony Carl said—looked at Tadashi. "Are you okay?"

"He's had a day," 'Kase offered.

Wasn't sure what to make of Felony Carl and Globby exchanging glances like they did—he was almost sure he could have guessed at the unspoken conversation if he wasn't so dizzy from exhaustion, hunger, a continuing battery of shocks—

Like the latest one of one of the flat boxes of food bags being offered to him.

"Hungry?" Felony Carl asked.

Tadashi blinked, not really processing this, disbelief warring with the overwhelming needs singing through him, of food, of not running for two seconds, of letting these two adults take the responsibility for just a minute—

'Kase finally made the decision.

"Oh what the heck—you know what? I had a day too," she said, grabbing a bag. "'Dashi, eat something before you fall over."

Fair enough. And what the heck, he trusted these guys, weirdly enough.

"Okay, thanks," he said, taking one—and then two more for Louie and Huey. "But I need to hear more about this _city nearly being destroyed _business."

_"It was epic,"_ Globby said, hands out. "Me, a crucial part of the plan—"

"It _is_ pretty impressive," Felony Carl assured them.

And it was probably worth the added stress of the story due to the relief of something in his stomach and the flavor bursting in his mouth—enough to make him reiterate the _thanks for the wonderful meal_ bit of his mealtime prayer. And with Huey and Louie making short work of their burger and fries, he felt a _bit_ better about everything.

He hoped Nox was okay. He hoped _everyone_ was okay, but Nox was the major question mark—he had an idea of where the others were, if they were still alive; Nox, not so much.

_I'm coming, okay?_ he thought. _Just—wait for me, okay? Wherever you are, if you're somewhere safe, stay there, please._

_I'm still coming, Nox._

* * *

Nox had been right, the Fwah-nest was much better when there were others around.

He had shown Lena the _koi_-pond, the pond filled with _fish_, and they weren't hungry but they thought it would be grand fun while Webby and Violet were busy tracking down 'Dashi's-Hiro to practice how Sashi caught _fish_, Lena suggesting the trick she had figured out, where spreading your wings made the _sun_ not dazzle the water so you could see in and under at _fish_—

Catching _fish_ wasn't challenging though, because as soon as they stepped into the water the fish swam up to them—Nox and Lena giggled a little at the fish swimming up to their hands and nibbling gently on their knuckles with mouths that had no teeth, whistled and warbled that maybe they wouldn't eat _these_ fish because that was no-good-bad, eating nice fish that nibbled at your hands and swum around your legs feeling weird and slippery but happy—

"Hey my dudes!" Fwah greeted, coming up to them with something in his paws. "Are you saying hi to the koi? Hi fishy dudes," he said to the fish, putting the thing he was carrying down and fiddling with it. "Here watch this they love this stuff." Pull out something flat that smelled of _food_, tear a piece off, flick it into the water.

Several of the fish quickly darted to the bit of _food_, nibbling eating and sucking it down.

Lena whistled _interest_ and _concern_, looked at Fwah, who handed them pieces of the _food_-slices—Nox took one, sniff, lick, bite—not very interesting compared to other foods and he was full-happy-full enough that he wasn't interested in eating _this_ food. Watch Fwah shred a food-slice to give to _fish_, imitated and drop shreds, chirping and chirruping in _surprise_ and _interest_ and _Lena-look-look-look—_

Lena held the food-slice over the water, gingerly dipped it in, whistled _interest_ as the fish nibbled happily, gingerly patted a few as they nibbled with vigor—

"Aren't they fun?" Fwah asked, shredding another food-slice. "These dudes love bread, although they go nutty for fish flakes too."

"Brrrah," Nox echoed—he was going to make an effort to learn more _words_ for 'Dashi, 'Dashi would be so impressed when he found them—

That horrible all-eating ache was less now, the terror that maybe this _wasn't_ 'Dashi's-Hiro and that 'Dashi was never coming now only a background fear—he hadn't realized how terrible it was to be separated from flock from flight until Webby and Lena and Violet had found him, had made him not _only_ anymore—Fwah was okay Honey-Lemon-Aiko was okay Gogo was scary like Grump Baymax was _maybe-_okay 'Zabi was skittish and he wasn't sure at all about Maybe-'Dashi's-Hiro anymore but they were different flock different flight this was _his_ flock _his_ flight this was _good_ was _safe_ was _home_.

And with _good_ and _safe_ and _home_, Nox could once again believe with all his might that 'Dashi was coming to save them.

But that also meant that if this _was_ 'Dashi's-Hiro 'Dashi's-Hiro needed to be with _them_ so when 'Dashi came they were all together and here—that had been a long discussion, Nox had been convinced and then not convinced through Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro's actions, Webby was fully convinced and Lena and Violet were _eh, maybe_ and not fully into it.

But if Maybe-Dashi's-Hiro _was_ 'Dashi's-Hiro then it meant that he _needed to be with them_ which meant that him going off away from the Fwah-nest was bad-bad-no good-_bad_—hence why Webby and Violet were out looking for him they'd bring him back this wasn't like the bad-forest they could navigate here they knew where _north_ was—

"—and then after this we can have lunch," Fwah was saying, looking at them as Baymax waddled over how could Baymax stand to go that slow _how_—"Hey, weren't there supposed to be four of you? Baymax, where's the other two?"

Lena and Nox quickly whistled and squawked excuses, hoping to distract—

Baymax looked at them, looked around, blinking, looked at Fwah. "_Webby and Violet: are not here."_

Fwah was up on his feet so fast that he knocked the rest of the food-slices in the water. _"Oh no they're LOOSE!_ Okay no don't panic we just go get them real quick Baymax keep an eye on these two _MINI-MAX!"_

Nox waited until Fwah ran off, _idea_ occurring to him—whistle and chirp _idea_ to Lena, who nodded, chirruping and churring before following him out of the pond and away from the friendly-fish who were _NOT food_ to stand in front of Baymax.

"Want 'Dashi-Hiro," Nox said, with all the confidence he could muster—_words, Nox, use your words—_

Lena nodded, right next to him. "'Dashi-Hiro," she said. "Want 'Dashi-Hiro."

Baymax blinked, looked around, looked back at them. _"Hiro: is currently at school."_

"Want 'Dashi-Hiro," Nox insisted.

Lena nodded in agreement they had planned this this was a good plan and it should work—"'Dashi-Hiro. Want 'Dashi-Hiro."

Baymax blinked, considering. _"Would seeing: Hiro, improve your health?"_

Nox and Lena both nodded yes yes yes because 'Dashi's-Hiro was supposed to be part of flock of flight that's why 'Dashi was looking all over—

Baymax blinked again, considering….

Finally put out paws. _"We will go see: Hiro."_

Lena and Nox chirped _success,_ put paws in Baymax's big clawless paws that still could make sharp _poke_, forced themselves to stay at his speed as he waddled out because Baymax could protect them from bad things and that was a lot of way to go if you had to walk because of _broken_-wing.

Lena warbled _pleased_ that plan was working so far, _question_ on how long this was going to take and what was going to happen.

Nox was happy to note that he was not the only one who didn't like the weird travelling-box-thing, or the fact that Baymax was really very difficult to climb on and cling to. Sit next to him, one on each side, pressed close and eyeing the not-feathered not-flock not-flight around them—

One that looked familiar blinked at them several times. "Oh…there's more."

Baymax blinked at them, looked up at her. _"Yes."_

Not-feather-not-flock-not-flight didn't seem to know what to do about that, went back to staring at something that really didn't seem all _that_ interesting, got off the next time the travelling-box-thing stopped.

Lena whistled _question_—Nox shook his head at her around Baymax, looked up at Baymax, poked him and whistled _question_, adding "'Dashi-Hiro" for good measure.

_"Hiro's school is in: two stops,"_ Baymax said, as they got moving again.

Lena crossed her arms, hunched, chattered _bored_ this wasn't like _limo_ this smelled and—_WHAT WAS THAT!?_

Nox had his paws clasped over his ears at the noisy _CLANG-CLANG-CLANG_—he had nearly forgotten he hated that sound hated it hated it hated it it _hurt_ when it was right over his ears and it was sudden and scary and he _hated it_.

Lena didn't like it either, Lena was wilfed down to nothing and pressed against Baymax so hard she was squished against him and causing some of the soft to roll up chattering _fear-what-no-bad_—Nox buried himself on Baymax's other side, not liking this either—

But they _had_ to get to 'Dashi's-Hiro, they couldn't risk 'Dashi's-Hiro being separate from them, flock and flight only did good when they were flock and flight not _only_ _only_ was trouble _only_ got hurt _only_ was lonely and scared and no good-bad-no—

Baymax was singing soft _lullaby_ again, making Nox relax a little—chitter at Lena, get _chitter_ back maybe worth relaxing….

At least until the next loud _CLANG-CLANG-CLANG_.


	43. Bird-Kids at College

**Chapter 43, everybody! Twas the update before Christmas, and all through the city, bird-kids were flying, I apologize for the ditty.**

**I think in my writing up on this I might be getting close to having it entirely written out…might bump it up to posting twice a week once that happens but in the meantime know that we have updates clean into the new year—and to this fic's first anniversary. :D**

**Continuing blanket disclaimer: I still have not finished Season Two. We're flying blind, boys. And again, a good chunk of these chapters were written before I had been able to bring myself to watch "Countdown to Catastrophe"…and in other news, yes I'm still in denial of the end of "Countdown to Catastrophe" don't at me. D:**

**But yeah, bits and pieces of this, specifically the bit with Krei at the beginning, were added thanks to watching the corresponding episode—by "Lie Detector" I decided to hold off on finishing the season until I finished this, since I wasn't entirely sold on how canon was affecting an AU that went off the rails a while ago. ^^; I may or may not regret that decision later, but what the hey. On that note: _episode title-drop time._**

**Of course, saying that…the _actual_ Muir Woods is a national park there's legit no way Krei could have ever actually purchased it the government doesn't give up real estate (please never get me started on the topic of eminent domain). And yes, the thing with Obake would have _totally_ happened with or without Big Hero Six there, the kids were only directly responsible for Globby and the events of "Baymax Returns" ("Fan Friction" give or take only because Obake was directly working against the kids by then), so _eat that,_ Cruz.**

**We have yet another reference to _Homeward Bound_ this chapter—love that movie, highly recommend it, it was a lot of inspiration for this fic, somehow these references always seems to involve Violet in some capacity. And I have no idea what anyone's school schedule is in the show the only class we ever seem to see them in is Granville's class so…slight fudging.**

**In other news, Joni is an OC who is vaguely based on Walani from _Don't Starve._ She has a younger cousin who is real into bot-fighting but they don't really talk. Also I'm pretty sure I wrote that one line before watching the Mayoi episode in full so…still AU we can handwave.**

**ALSO! Forgot to mention last week, but there's some bird-people art relating to the fic on my DeviantArt account of Dr-Kineil-Wicks. Just check my gallery for Big Hero 6 Safe in Brother's Wings for related art, and apologies in advance for the mess that is Eclipse. XP**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! YES! I swear those two give me life best characters after Obake. Yes Baymax is best birdsitter 10/10 would recommend. Yes! And I shall do my best! :D**

**SilverPhoenix, thanks for the review! Me too. D: And yes! Love these two and that will be a glorious realization indeed. :D And yes all the juicy worldbuilding bits about species yaaas! (Real talk, been writing some original fic with bird-people because I love the concept too much). Yes, very much—and good question…._CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!_**

**Hexyah, thanks for the review! Yes! Two of my favorite dudes I almost didn't include them until someone mentioned them so that was one crime narrowly averted. XD And Carl is the master of the understated reaction. :D No problem! Feel free to ask for more I welcome all chances to nerd about bird-people. \ovo/**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

The start of Hiro's next break hour saw him dragging his exhausted self to the labs with the intent of hitting his couch and taking Professor Granville up on her suggestion of catching up on his sleep.

That plan was quickly derailed by Wasabi waving him over.

"Have you seen this?" he asked, indicating the screen he, Honey Lemon, and Gogo were currently in front of. Hiro blinked, looked—

Felt his stomach flip-flop at the sight of Muirahara Woods smoldering—didn't really need that reminder of last night, even if his confusion at Krei on the screen as well was working to edge it out.

Krei, for his part, was gesturing with feeling at the burning woods behind him.

_"Deliberate arson, threatened the lives of everyone currently on the trails!"_ he railed.

_"Mr. Krei, our viewers want to know what you were doing in the woods yesterday,"_ Bluff Dunder said, jabbing a mike at him.

_"NOT setting them on FIRE—if you must know, Krei Tech is looking to purchase Muirahara Woods,"_ Krei said primly. _"Matter of fact I was planning to build there—but seeing the sad state it's in I'd rather preserve it and give it some PROPER security! Someone in there setting off—FIRECRACKERS is NOT going to be tolerated!"_

Gogo muted the broadcast as Krei continued to rail. "So that clears Krei," she observed.

"Not that he was really a suspect," Hiro mused. "But he's giving Amara an out—yeah, I know, don't give me that look," he said, waving them off. "We're all in agreement that bird-kids _had_ to have originated from Sycorax, but we can't use them _against_ Sycorax."

"No one's disagreeing with you, Hiro," Honey Lemon said, one hand squeezing at the neck of her cardigan and bunching the fabric up. "It's just…this was big," she said, gesturing to the screen. "The sort of thing that would attract attention—why would she risk it?"

"Cleaning up loose ends?" Wasabi suggested. "Bird-people are harder to explain than a burning forest."

"Or some sort of endgame," Gogo added. "Maybe she's at a point where she doesn't think she _needs_ to hide anymore."

"In which case, we're in trouble," Hiro concluded, remembering the _last_ supervillain who had catapulted out from under the radar—he didn't _think_ Liv Amara would try totally razing the city….

But he could totally picture her trying to turn it into a city of monsters.

Start at a touch to his shoulder—Honey Lemon winced apologetically.

"Maybe you should get some sleep, Hiro," she offered. "We can wake you for lunch."

He glanced at his watch. "No, no…I have to get to Karmi's lab."

"Seriously?" Wasabi asked. "What happened to you two hating each other?"

"We still do, don't worry," Hiro assured him, heading for the door. "It just gets temporarily suspended when you're using each other."

"Seems legit," Gogo said. "Hurry back."

"Will do."

* * *

As soon as he was gone, the others exchanged glances.

"I'm worried about him," Honey Lemon started.

"Me too," Wasabi agreed, rubbing the back of his neck. "He gets so stressed about everything and it kind of just—like _snaps_ and wrecks him."

"He's still at that learning stage," Gogo offered, opening her e-mails. "We worked through it—he'll get it eventually."

"Uh, sure, but Gogo, when _we_ were working through it we also _weren't moonlighting as superheroes."_

"And we were several years older than Hiro," Honey Lemon pointed out. "This is a lot to take in at _our_ ages, let alone fourteen."

Gogo sighed, rubbed at her face. "Look, I'm not arguing that this isn't stressful, because it _is_—for everyone involved. But we're invested now, and at the very least you can argue that the incident with Obake would have happened whether we were superheroes or not. By the way, don't tell Fred I said this because that means he's right and those words are to never leave my mouth."

"Yeah, but—you know I'd like someone _else_ to do the superhero stuff for like, _five minutes,_" Wasabi said. "Or at least during midterms or finals. It'd be really nice to just—hand this off to someone who _knows_ what they're doing."

"Do you think Freddie's dad will do it if we asked nicely?" Honey Lemon asked.

"At this point I'm kind of convinced his mom and Heathcliff would do it if we asked nicely," Gogo said.

"Yeah, that is kind of weird," Wasabi agreed, looking down at a tugging at his shirt. "What?"

"Up!" Violet ordered, arms up.

"Uh yeah no we've established I have to work up to these things," he told her. Looked up to address Gogo and Honey Lemon—

Gogo blamed not getting any coffee in her system for the length of her reaction time, was willing to bet that was Wasabi and Honey Lemon's reason as well.

In the meantime.

_"What are you doing here you're supposed to be at Fred's no bad bird-kid,"_ Wasabi squawked, jumping back onto the desk—Honey Lemon reached to scoop her up—

Apparently it occurred to Violet that she was in trouble, because she took off.

_"No—HEY!"_ Gogo barked, launching out of her chair and running after the little purple bird-kid. _"Wasabi, Honey Lemon! Other way!"_

_"Got it!"_ they barked as she rounded the corner, Violet disappearing around the next corner—good gravy she was fast! Run, skid, nearly collide with Honey Lemon—

Violet easily swerved around Wasabi when he stepped out in front of her.

Five minutes in it became painfully clear that they wouldn't be catching her without a great deal of effort—she was easily running circles around all of them, dodging every attempt to catch her and slipping away before they even had a chance to turn around.

And considering the end of that five minutes had them all on the floor after a collision, Gogo was motivated to suggest a different tactic.

"Are we _sure_ this is going to work?" Wasabi asked—to be quickly shushed by Honey Lemon. Keep the doors almost shut, watching through the crack—wait until Violet walked by, focused on the open bag of chips on the floor, until the crackling said she had it—

_"Now!"_

Jump out, skid, Honey Lemon throwing her cardigan before tackling it, Gogo grabbing a handful of green sweater—

Unfortunately that handful of green sweater belonged to Wasabi, who had Honey Lemon, who was currently hugging Gogo, cardigan sandwiched between them. And no Violet.

A crinkling noise made them look—spot Violet at the end of the hall, beak in the bag before looking up at them.

"No," she declared, before marching off.

"Did we just get outsmarted by a bird-kid?" Wasabi asked.

"I won't tell if you won't," Honey Lemon offered.

"Not yet," Gogo said, squirming out of Honey Lemon's grip in pursuit of Violet. "Come on."

* * *

Finally finally _FINALLY_ they got out of the stinky moving-box that went _CLANG-CLANG-CLANG_—and did it again as it trundled away. Keen _distress_ at Baymax—

Baymax looked around, down at his chest where something interesting flashed. _"According to Hiro's schedule, he is currently in a: free period,"_ Baymax announced. _"As he normally eats lunch at noon, this means he will be in his lab."_ Blink, look, start moving. _"This way please."_

They walked through a gap in small cliff that turned out to be _wall_, chirped with interest when this turned out to be like Fwah-nest with trees and grass and bushes all laid out just _so_ with rock-paths for bright-eyed monsters that for some reason never came in nests like this—freeze when one came huffling along, watch as it purred by calmly, not interested in them.

Lena went _phew_ in relief—Nox tugged on Baymax's paw, pointing after calm-monster and chirping _why-why-why—_

Baymax looked where Nox indicated, back at Nox. _"That is a: car. Cars: are a manner of vehicle used for transportation. They are useful for when walking the same distance would have a: negative impact on one's health, but should not be used for short distances when weather permits."_

"Kuh," Nox echoed—the way Baymax talked _car_ was tame and nice but Nox knew better there had been that one that tried to eat 'Dashi and Louie and then all the ones that had tried to eat _him_ WHY did Baymax talk like _car_ was nice _why._

_"Car,"_ Baymax repeated, like how 'Dashi repeated a _word_ he wanted them to know, calm and with weight, like _word_ was as important as flying was key to happiness.

"Kuh."

"Dashi-Hiro," Lena said, not having patience or desire to learn new _word_ chittering that the sooner they were back in Fwah-nest and _away_ from smelly noises and _car_-monsters the better.

Baymax blinked at her, resumed waddling, blinking at whatever Nox pointed out and chirped _interest-THAT-what?_ about.

_"That is a robot,"_ he said of something small with four limbs running after a round flying thing with no wings _HOW_—"_Robots can perform many tasks. For example: I am a robot that is programmed to assist in all healthcare needs."_

Lena and Nox both looked at the little four-legged thing Baymax called _robot_, looked back at Baymax who was big and soft and squishy and warm and very much _not_ like that, warbled in confusion—interest when they reached a bunch of flat rocks all lined up against each other and leading up to big shiny square strange cliff.

_"These are steps,"_ Baymax explained. Looked at something SHINY that followed the steps at Nox's eye level. _"Please always remember to use the handrails, especially during inclement weather. Snow, ice, and rain, may negatively impact your ability to use: steps."_

Nox reached out with his free paw, gripped the SHINY thing that was cool to touch but also warming in sun, chirped at Baymax, who carefully put a paw on nearest _step_, put other paw on _step,_ pause, put other paw on _step,_ other paw on _step_, pause—

Lena groused that _steps_ didn't _look_ dangerous, would be more easily navigated on all four paws what was this _why_. Nox reported that the SHINY thing made interesting noises when tapped with claw, making Lena want to look but couldn't navigate around Baymax _want-want-want—_

Finally make it to top of _steps,_ chirp in alarm at sight of other bird-kids, interest when they realized that it was themselves this must be _mirror_ like 'Dashi had shown them—rush up and tap against, chirping and preening as Baymax pushed at something before looking in _mirror_ and moving a paw in a circle. _"Hello."_

"No," Lena said, going over and patting Baymax before tapping on _mirror._ "Mrr-rrr." _Not really you-for look-at-see._

Nox agreed, tapping on _mirror_ and resting claws against—chirp interest when the shadow of his paw showed something else—lean in close against _mirror_ and shade eyes with paws—

_Lena!_ he squawked. _Lena-Lena-look-look-look-not mirror-look—_

Which was when part of _mirror_ opened, sending them both darting behind Baymax in alarm.

"Aw, Baymax, did Hiro run off and leave you outside again?"

_"Hello, Joni,"_ Baymax greeted, moving his paw in circular wave. _"We are here to see: Hiro."_

"We?" the no-feather asked—spotted Nox and Lena peeking around Baymax. "Uh, hi?"

Nox wasn't sure how to interact with this no-feather—she didn't seem mean and scary, made small _wave_…decide to imitate Baymax's wave.

The no-feather still seemed confused. "Are they…related?..."

Baymax blinked, looked at them, back at the no-feather. _"Nox, and Lena: share a genetic donor."_

"That is…not what I meant but okay," the no-feather said, stepping aside. Baymax considered the opening, turned sideways, waddled in. Nox and Lena exchanged glances, followed close behind—Baymax was still best bet Baymax looked soft but his paws had sharp _poke_ and sometimes he was big and red and could _fly_ so that _had_ to mean he could protect them if he needed to.

"Uh," no-feather-Joni noised, staring openly now. "Are they from the…biology department?"

_"They are not,"_ Baymax said.

"Okay…and they're with you because?..."

_"I am: babysitting."_ Look at them, back to her. "_During the course of: babysitting, they requested to see: Hiro."_

"Yeah he's upstairs—please tell me they're not _related_ to Hiro."

_"They do not share any genetic donors with: Hiro."_

"Okay…I…guess I could check them in…th-they're housebroken, right?"

_Checking in_ involved no-feather-Joni writing their names down and then giving them things to put around their necks that had SHINY squares at the end that were _no don't eat that_—tap-tap-tap the SHINY things, whistle _question_—

"Now, kids," no-feather-Joni said, handing them _lollipop_ before standing with paws on knees like 'Dashi did. "The only reason I'm going along with this is because I trust Baymax, so it's very, _very_ important that you don't tell anyone I let you in, okay? You never saw me."

"Joni," Nox said.

"Yeah that's the kind of thing you _don't_ say okay? No Joni Joni wasn't here I bought your silence with the lollipops yeah?" Look at Baymax. "Please don't tell Professor Granville I let these in I'm still in trouble for the Mayoi in the cafeteria."

_"Nox, and Lena: do not share any genetic similarities with the Mayoi,"_ Baymax said. _"There is no danger of any repeat incidents."_ At no-feather-Joni's desperate look: _"I will not tell: Professor Granville."_

"Oh, _thank you_ Baymax," no-feather-Joni said, tackling Baymax in a hug and burying her face against him.

_"You are welcome,"_ Baymax said, returning the hug and patting her head.

Nox and Lena exchanged glances, a little confused—who was _Professor Granville_ and why were they so scary? Were they like _her_—

Ears pricked, spines stiffened, eyes pinned at a terrified shriek—

"What was that?" no-feather-Joni asked—"Hey wait _where_ are they going!?"

Going to protect flock protect flight, speeding up more _steps_ and shreeing _coming-hold on-we help—_

Because that was _danger-terror_ shriek, that came from flock from flight—

Something had happened to Violet.


	44. Decisions to Make

**Chapter 44, everybody! The _LAST_ update of 2020! _It's finally over! *sob*_**

**Also, I got a Baymax sweater for Christmas. :D _I am satisfied with my wear._**

**I think in my writing up on this I might be getting close to having it entirely written out…might bump it up to posting twice a week once that happens but in the meantime know that we have updates clean into the new year—and to this fic's first anniversary. :D**

**Continuing blanket disclaimer: I still have not finished Season Two. We're flying blind, boys. And again, I am still in denial of the end of "Countdown to Catastrophe" don't at me _this is how I cope, okay?_ D:**

**Anyway, back to the fic—Hiro is once again referencing _Lilo and Stitch,_ which Karmi is apparently aware of since she calls Hiro a Trog. XD Also, Karmi's visualizing: hi, that me.**

**And yeah Sycorax _did_ rip off Globby's thing with Nega-Globby he should sue. And all three shows Tadashi references has a habit of having weird stuff happen in a setting just _slightly_ off of what the character's used to.**

**Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! I DON'T KNOW BUT WE'LL FIND OUT SOON AAAAA! I do too. :D And aww, you flatter me. :D I do too—and come to think of it, Sasha's voice is really close to what I was imagining, so good guess! Thanks, you too! :D Oh I'm going to have to do that sometime….**

**SilverPhoenix, thanks for the review! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA LET ME YELL WITH YOU! :D They are! They do! Baymax was actually addressing Joni since he's able to scan through glass tho. They are. :D YES! I need to find someplace online to post that tho (I understand there's stuff like Fictionpress and Wattpad and AO3 supports original work but must do _research_). :D But at least it has one fan! :D**

**Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney**

**Ducktales © 2017 Disney**

Karmi was very much _not_ happy with one Hiro Hamada, which he at least had the decency to notice when he walked through her lab doors a little before noon.

"Uh," he noised, taking in her stiff pose, her tightly crossed arms, and her stern face. "Did I…come at a bad time?"

She had to take a moment to remind herself that throwing things at people was _not_ conductive, settled for slamming her textbook on the counter. "What are you trying to pull?" she demanded.

"Uh, what?"

"What is this, you don't have any proof so you decide to cook something up? _Listen,_ genius, I know better, okay?"

He was still giving her that annoyingly dim look. "So…should I just wait until you start talking sense again, or…."

_UGH, idiot._ Sag and look skywards for strength before forcing her attention back on him—this time brandishing the petri dish that had given her such grief all morning. "I'm talking about _this."_

"Oh," he said—still missing the point. "So did you find out what bird it was from?"

Jab a finger at him. "You did this—this has your fingerprints all over it."

"I _did_ touch it, so yeah."

Ugh. "You couldn't stand that _I_ got the cool internship, is that what it is?"

"Not getting what that has to do with the feather."

Oi, she was actually going to have to _explain_ this to him. "This—this _feather_—I spent like _two hours_ trying to clean the human contaminants off of it, and I still didn't manage—and then putting it through every scanner I have has it being a hodgepodge of avian DNA, and there's _still_ human DNA in there. This is _not_ a real feather, it doesn't belong to anything on this _planet_. Now, _what are you trying to pull?_ And don't lie to me, I see that smirk."

He quickly schooled his expression. "Uh…no-nothing, really, you know…maybe it's an alien feather."

"Aliens don't _exist,_ genius."

"Not true, there's a bunch in Hawaii. And maybe it's just the machines here—maybe you'd have better luck at work."

"Ah-_ha_," she declared, pointing. "There it is."

"There what is?"

"There's the angle—you want me to bring this up to Dr. Amara, look like an idiot, and get fired. Is that it?"

"I legit have better things to do. A _lot_ of better things to do," he said, crossing his arms before shrugging diffidently. "But hey, I guess not getting something figured out despite your oh-so-cool internship is better than asking someone who knows better a perfectly legitimate question. Oh, and since you _didn't_ get it, I don't have to stick to my end of the bargain—I'm _totally_ playing Fall Out Boy at max volume."

"I am _not_ taking this to Dr. Amara—this is you being a sore loser and _I'm not playing this game."_

"Like you claiming I have a crush on you?" he countered, grousing—ah, it hurt when someone saw through you, didn't it? "I mean, if it wasn't for _me_ you would have never been able to fix Professor Knox, but go off I guess. I'm done."

"This isn't even _remotely_ like Professor Knox," she countered as he started to leave—huff when he turned on his heel, smug look on his face.

"_Sure_ it isn't—we know _exactly_ when and how and why Professor Knox got monsterfied—and everyone else that showed up looking like that afterwards. All perfectly good explanations, right?"

She was going to force-feed him the petri dish before it was all over, she knew she would. "And targeting the one person trying to _fix_ the issue works because?"

"Because she's making the issues and then fixing them—she's selling the problem _and_ the solution."

"Do you even _hear_ yourself?" she demanded, taking a step to close the gap and better point in his face. "Now you listen here you little _trog,_ I want you _out_ of my lab, and _out_ of my life."

"I notice you're not trying to tell me Liv Amara's totally perfect anymore."

She ground her teeth, trying for calm—ugh, how did he always get under her skin like this? Glance up at movement behind him—

Twitch at the sight, causing him to turn too. "What the—"

She stumbled back, startled at the thing's scream—he did too, scrambled upright and out the door as it took off.

"Uhhh—I just remembered I have to go—do something," he blurted, running out. "Nice chat!"

"Hey wait!" she barked, running to her lab door—he and whatever that was was gone.

Except….

She looked at the petri dish again.

No. No, he was just being a jealous jerk, that was a thing.

Except something biological on this level was _way_ beyond him—she knew better, he was a robotics major, and the closest thing he and that little clique he had to biology know-how was a chemistry major. Genetic manipulation of this level was _way_ beyond his expertise. Like, from here to the moon and beyond.

And that was just a single feather—let's not get _started_ on what she had just seen.

Huff a sigh, leaning back against the doorjamb.

He was getting under her skin because he was asking the same questions she was, that she had already asked and had been given the runaround on. They both had questions, the same questions, and no answers were forthcoming from the leading expert on the matter.

What if…what if there was a _reason?_

Okay no, think this through—go back in, close her door, go over it with some of her viruses, scribble out a vague outline as she tried sorting through it as she usually did, through the lens of a Big Hero Six fanfic—

_"Just because he's jealous of your smarts doesn't mean he's wrong!" Captain Cutie said. "You're asking the same questions—if a robotics major has come to the same questions a biology major has, then there's a problem to be addressed!"_

_"A problem that's definitely a job for Big Hero Six!" Fire Jumper declared, leaping into frame._

She sighed, putting her pencil down after a while. She had tried tackling it from a few different angles, but it always came back to the same result: confronting Dr. Amara. And if she did _that_, she'd lose her internship—she'd probably be blacklisted forever or some other horrible thing.

_"You have valid concerns," Red Panda pointed out. "If Dr. Amara is innocent, she will have no problem reassuring you and answering your questions."_

_"And if she does try something, then we'll be there to save the day!" Captain Cutie declared._

_"And doing the right thing is ALWAYS worthwhile in the end!" Chop-Chop added._

Yeah, she thought, putting her notebook in her backpack before shouldering it and grabbing the petri dish. Now if only it wasn't so hard.

_"Tough times are the mark of a true superhero!" Speed Queen announced. "Woman up and do it!"_

_"We believe in you!" Tall Girl added._

"Glad someone does," she muttered, opening the door—glance back at her viruses. "Wish me luck, guys."

The viruses were silent, but she liked to think they were doing so on a microscopic level. Alternatively, she imagined a choruses of _good lucks_ from Big Hero Six.

Sag a little before steeling herself and marching off—it would be nice to have what she wrote in her fanfics, yes.

But sometimes, you just had to do things yourself.

* * *

Tadashi was vaguely aware of the fact that he had fallen asleep on hard concrete, more so when consciousness started being a bigger thing, knocking on his door and just generally being annoying. Yes, he was aware that he was sleeping on pavement, probably in some back alley and it was dirty and disgusting and gross but _come on,_ five more minutes?

_Nox and the others—_

Finally jerked awake—groaned as his body informed him that it had not liked sleeping on the pavement _yes he was aware_—have a moment of panic when there was an absence of bird-kid against his chest. Scramble up, looking around—

Okay, good news, there was Huey and Louie, and they were mostly behaving. Questionable news was them crawling all over the motorcycle and the big guy, Felony Carl, but at least they had gotten past trying to eat Globby. He hoped.

Sit upright, trying to get everything firing again—'Kase was still sleeping, trembling a little—reach out, shake her shoulder until she started awake.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she sighed, laying back down—a couple of the saddlebags from the motorcycle had been acting as their pillows, he noticed inanely—remembered where they were and jerked back upright. "Wait no _ew_—"

Tadashi couldn't help the sort of coughing laugh, kept an eye and ear on the weird guys who were totally cool with bird-people _why_.

"You think maybe hanging with those two might be better than hanging with Mister _I break scary ladies out of prison?_" he asked her quietly, mostly jesting.

The look 'Kase gave him promised something painful and would have made Grump proud. "I will hurt you badly if you leave me with them."

He stifled a laugh, glanced back at the two guys in question—apparently locked in a heated debate about something that was actually pretty inconsequential in the long run before Globby noticed them awake and tapped Felony Carl's arm, prompting him to look—

"'Dashi!" Huey cheered, sliding off of Felony Carl's back and bounding over to tackle him.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm up," Tadashi muttered. "How long were we out?"

"A few hours," Felony Carl said, accepting the saddlebag being handed back to him. "General consensus was to let you sleep undisturbed. And then babysit the kids when they woke up first."

"I see," Tadashi said, also taking note of the fact that the motorcycle, Felony Carl, and Globby now took up the bulk of the alley entrance and hid them effectively. "What are your rates?"

"I'm good."

"We were also discussing the best approach going forward!" Globby announced. "So far it involves an apartment for rent at Carl's place."

_"Hard_ no," 'Kase interjected. "Your breath smells like garbage."

"Okay, harsh…second plan is to contact Big Hero Six, they're good with stuff like this."

Tadashi couldn't help the dumbfounded look. "Are you sure about that?"

"Oh yeah totally—they helped with the whole conversion from villain to hero thing I had going on—it got real bumpy somewhere in the middle, let me tell you."

Okay, so now Tadashi had _more_ questions—but first.

"We still need to find the others," he said, looking at 'Kase.

"Ten bucks says most of them are at Sycorax," 'Kase said sourly.

_"Oooh_ I hate those guys," Globby said, looking the angriest Tadashi had seen him. "They _totally_ ripped off my thing! It's why it's trademarked now."

"That definitely showed a distinct lack of respect," Felony Carl agreed. Looked at Louie, still crawling around on his arm. "And that level of disrespect means them having more of these is a bad thing."

"It is," Tadashi said, standing, bracing himself momentarily against the wall. "So—you haven't seen a little bird-kid, have you? Besides those two," he added, when the two guys looked at Louie. "Dark hair, dark feathers, blue eyes—answers to Nox."

"Speaks only bird," 'Kase offered, stretching.

"Regrettably, no," Felony Carl said.

"Honestly, dark hair and blue eyes sounds like my old employer," Globby said, pensive. "But ooh! Big Hero Six would totally be able to find this kid!"

Tadashi was still hesitant about trusting the group that he had not had good relations with thus far. "Are you sure about that?"

"Totally—this is absolutely their thing. Did I mention I know them personally?"

"He does actually," Felony Carl said, accepting the other saddlebag. "So do I—they're good people."

Tadashi couldn't help exchanging glances with 'Kase, who still didn't look convinced—was he? Part of him wanted to throw all the responsibility on an adult for like _two seconds_, please, he was barely an adult he had no idea what he was doing…but did he trust these guys, and by extension this Big Hero Six?

Yes. Yes because they hadn't been judging, had fed them, had kept watch while they slept some of the stress off. If he had met them on the street, minus the feathers and the total insanity that preceded the meeting…still yes. His built-in ability to read people had only been fatally off once, as far as he knew.

Figured it was the one time that counted.

"Okay, I guess," Tadashi said finally, glancing away. "But we have to get Della and Dewey first."

"No problem! You do that, I'll do this, I'll call Carl with the meeting place," Globby said, saluting before bouncing away—like _literally_ bouncing away, like turning into a ball and actually _bouncing._

"Maybe I'm in an episode of _Sliders,"_ Tadashi decided. "Or—or _The Outer Limits, _or _The Twilight Zone."_

"Some things you learn to roll with," Felony Carl said, handing Tadashi a helmet and indicating the sidecar. Tadashi got the helmet on Huey, accepted a second one and put it on himself when he saw Louie already had one and wasn't too thrilled about it.

"It's a safety thing," Felony Carl told Louie.

"Yeah," Tadashi said, working around the little fact that bird-person anatomy didn't agree with sidecars. "'Kase."

"I think I'd rather ride on the back," she said, watching his struggle.

"Your tail will get caught in the wheel."

"It's a possibility," Felony Carl told her—watched Tadashi for another few seconds before picking him up like a kitten, adjusting the seat, and then putting him back down. "Better?"

"I have no idea," Tadashi said honestly, still processing being picked up like that.

"You'll get over it," 'Kase said, finally relenting—and scowling at the helmet she had to take. "Also, I blame you for all of this, we've been skulking all over when we could have literally walked straight up main street and no one would have batted an eye _I've had to breathe in dumpster air because of you."_

"Excuse me, but the last time I was in San Fransokyo there were no superheroes, glob-people, or bird-people for that matter," he shot back—looked at Felony Carl. "We're at the end of a very long and stressful road trip."

"I get it," Felony Carl said, handing a protesting Louie over.

"Thanks—Louie in here with Huey okay?"

Louie chirped, gripped the windshield of the sidecar and peered over it with determination.

"Okay," Felony Carl said, putting on another helmet. "Where are we going?"

"Other end of the Golden Gate Bridge—we should be able to pick up the other kids there."

"Right. For the record, I approve of the naming conventions."

"Congratulations," 'Kase muttered to Tadashi as they motored off. "You finally found someone who doesn't think your name ideas are lame."

"You and Grump are the only ones who think they're lame," Tadashi muttered back.

"Are we wrong?"

"Yes. Totally."

But the important thing was, they had a plan. It was a thin plan, and one that relied on other people to work…but maybe he could take that.

_Someone has to help._

Someone was.

* * *

Webby had been exploring the new-place with Violet, had agreed that temporary _split-up_ would cover more ground but was important to be _shh_ and _careful_—

Different paths all looked the same though, all samey and boring, sometimes with SHINY that was behind hard clearness that was like _mirror_ but see-through, sometimes with lots of _door_ that wouldn't open—huff in frustration, glaring at small box next to _door_ that she thought might have _something_ to do with getting inside—

Excitement was starting to give way to _antsy_ that 'Dashi accused them of when they were _bored-bored-bored_ but she was NOT _bored_ maybe a LITTLE _bored_ but more so she was nervous because she was _only_ and that was no-good—keep sniffing—faint 'Dashi's-Hiro scents, crisscrossing everywhere…was this nest? Was this 'Dashi's-Hiro nest? This didn't feel like _nest_ nest was supposed to be cozy and warm and safe this just felt confusing like the spaces between _cage_ and _pain_ in the bad-place—

Nearly leaped out of her feathers at Violet's shriek, feeling cold-cold-cold at what she shrieked—

_BAD-PLACE-WAS RIGHT-FLEE-RUN-NOW!_

_No_.

No-no-no why-why-_why_ was 'Dashi's-Hiro at bad-place HOW was this bad-place it hadn't smelled like bad-place didn't look _that_ much like bad-place but all that paled in comparison to the overarching need to _RUN-FLEE-HIDE!_

Scramble and scurry down hall, knowing in the back of her mind she needed to find Violet couldn't leave Violet behind couldn't let her be _only—_spotted a side-cave open YES that meant _window_ meant freedom—

Dart in, skid to a halt and spin around, half-puffed up and ready to charge _danger_—huffing, breathing heavily from fleeing, ears pricked…no noise, no danger—

"May I help you?"

Webby squawked, spun—

Tipped her head at the no-feathers sitting behind a big square wooden thing, paws together in front of her face like 'Dashi did when _thinking_, looking at her with a little surprise and _edge_ but not lots like other no-feathers.

Webby shuffled a bit—this no-feathers didn't feel dangerous. "Hi! I'm Webby," she decided to try.

"Hello Webby," the no-feathers said, lowering her paws to the top of the big square wooden thing, still with fingers laced. "Might I ask what you're doing in my office?"

None of that sounded like _name_, 'Dashi said if she gave her _name_ that would make others give _their_ name _hi Webby I'm Tadashi!_

This no-feathers didn't feel like _threat_—pad up to behind _chair,_ peek around—still no-threat, had an expression like 'Dashi did when he was wondering what they were doing but suspected _trick_ or some other _play_, almost-amused—pad up to the big square wooden thing, go _tap-tap-tap_ on the side, hook fingers on top and peer over at the no-feathers.

"Hi! I'm Webby!" she tried again.

Eyebrow went up—this no-feathers radiated _authority_, like Fwah's-Mom did like 'Dashi and Beth and Sue did this was a listen-close and do-this this was _in charge_—that was SHINY and different stretch a little to paw at the long shiny thing with scribblies on the front—

The no-feathers picked it up and set it back out of Webby's reach. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Webby, but you still haven't said what you're doing in my office."

Webby gnawed on the side of the big square wooden thing where it jutted out, thinking—this no-feathers radiated _authority_, but Webby didn't see flock or flight anywhere, but she was _in charge_ and Webby thought she must be in charge of _something_ was there a flock a flight somewhere Webby didn't know about?

Maybe it was worth asking this no-feathers for what she wanted.

"'Dashi-Hiro," Webby declared, lifting her beak above the big square wooden thing again. "Want 'Dashi-Hiro."

Big _sigh_ from the no-feathers, like 'Dashi when he was aggravated at them. "I should have known that Mr. Hamada had _something_ to do with this." Stand up, come around the big square wooden thing, extend a paw to Webby. "Come along—I imagine I have an idea of where he might be."

This was promising, and she was nice-authority-no-feathers, not like _her_ in the bad-place—go _fwee_, put a paw in hers, follow and try not to trip on weird ground this ground was like the ground outside there was no give at all and _her_ feet went _tk-tk-tk_ on it too but Webby didn't see any claws her back paws were in weird wraps too was she given the no-good _bad_ poison too?

"Hi," she tried again, still not sure what to call this no-feathers. "I'm Webby."

"Hello Webby—I'm Professor Granville."

"Grah," Webby tried. "Fress-_grah."_

"I suppose we'll have to work on that."


End file.
